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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27354601">but you can make me a drink</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsetress/pseuds/obsetress'>obsetress</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(no one dies btw), Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, but then i had this idea at one am and couldn't stop thinking about it so, here we are!, i haven't written fic in 10 years, just take some of everything i guess, oh there's found family too, ok ok ok eventual smut too, whoops!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:15:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,107</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27354601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsetress/pseuds/obsetress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’ll have…” Dani hadn’t thought this far ahead. She casts about frantically for a menu, a specials board, anything, before biting her lip and looking back at the bartender hopefully. “An ale?” She tries.</p><p>The bartender’s hand comes to a stop on the counter.</p><p>“I–– Is that… Do you have…”</p><p>“An ale,” the bartender repeats.</p><p>“Yeah.” Dani smiles widely, proudly, nodding as if to cement her decision.</p><p>“You know there are different kinds of ale, right?” The bartender’s brow is furrowing again. </p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>The two of them are quiet, staring at each other, the bartender’s lips pursed as she watches Dani carefully, Dani trying to look anywhere but at the bartender’s lips. </p><p>Dani gulps instead. “Then I’ll take whichever ale is your favorite.”<br/> </p><p><i>or:</i> as soon as dani stumbles across the manor, one of bly's two resident pubs, and its bartender, all she wants to do is go back... but what she doesn't know is that the manor is also bly's resident lesbian bar.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dani Clayton/Jamie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>220</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1038</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Bartender</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“I’ll have…” Dani hadn’t thought this far ahead. She casts about frantically for a menu, a specials board, anything, before biting her lip and looking back at the bartender hopefully. “An ale?” She tries.</p><p>The bartender’s hand comes to a stop on the counter.</p><p>“I–– Is that… Do you have…”</p><p>“An ale,” the bartender repeats.</p><p>“Yeah.” Dani smiles widely, proudly, nodding as if to cement her decision.</p><p>“You know there are different kinds of ale, right?” The bartender’s brow is furrowing again.</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>The two of them are quiet, staring at each other, the bartender’s lips pursed as she watches Dani carefully, Dani trying to look anywhere but at the bartender’s lips.</p><p>Dani gulps instead. “Then I’ll take whichever ale is your favorite.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Dani visits the Manor, she’s not sure what to expect.</p><p>She’s been passing the tiny bar, sandwiched between a tidy tailor’s and a ramshackle cobbler’s shop, every morning and night since arriving in Bly one week ago. She’s not even sure how it stays in business; she’s never seen anyone enter or leave the bar––<em>pub, </em> she corrects herself excitedly––but there it is at 5:03 every evening, warm light bleeding through its opaque windows.</p><p>It’s Friday when she finally goes inside, hovering just outside the steps to its garden level entrance for a few moments, eyes fixed on the door as she gulps in the chilly air. She’s been here before, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday passing with her eyes narrowed at the doorknob, willing it to turn, before… <em> Wait another night</em>, she’d told herself, <em> another time</em>.</p><p>This time, however, Dani takes another deep breath and forces herself forward.</p><p>It feels… Almost normal, she thinks, pulling her jacket closer around her as she looks around warily. There are a few people here and there, scattered between the snug booths along the wall and the shiny, dark wooden bar opposite, but Bly is a small town and the other pub, down the street and around the corner, is already packed, and she’s not sure how many patrons the Manor would have anyway, even on a Friday night. It’s well-kept: Dani can tell that whoever runs the Manor is painstakingly committed to the space, polishing the wood with a keen eye and staving off the customary tackiness Dani is used to haunting the floors of bars back home. </p><p>Most of all, she notices the plants.</p><p>There are plants everywhere at the Manor, shade flowers wedged into every cranny, ferns cascading from their hooks on the ceiling, plants with rich, green leaves adorning every shelf. Sprigs of eucalyptus mark the scant tables, and there’s a succulent for every tea light across the length of the bar. Dani’s not sure how she knows it, but she knows they’ve been placed with a careful eye, and while she doesn’t think anyone would dare move them, she’s confident that their caretaker would know immediately the exact spot to which they should be returned.</p><p>She closes her eyes, breathing in deeply before opening them again, and, setting her jaw, crosses to the bar, settling near a small potted thing with no bloom in sight.</p><p>It’s a full five minutes before the bartender even acknowledges her. </p><p>Dani barely notices the time, barely notices the patrons around her or even the plants any more, because when she first notices the bartender, brows furrowed and lips pursed as she scrubs at a stubborn stain on a glass near the other end of the bar, it feels like everything stops. It doesn’t feel like she’s <em> seeing </em> her, Dani thinks, not really. It feels like <em> recognition</em>––from when, she doesn’t know.</p><p>All she knows is that, watching the bartender give up and let the glass tumble haphazardly into the sink, all Dani can focus on is the bartender’s lips, breathing out a soft curse as she lets the glass go.</p><p>When she finally speaks to Dani, it’s in passing at best. “What can I do ya for?”</p><p>She says it like Dani has always been there, her voice cool, with no pomp or circumstance. She doesn’t even look at Dani, focused instead on wiping down the bar around the small plant settled between them. </p><p>Dani doesn’t respond at first––she’s lost somewhere between those lips, still, and the way the bartender’s lithe fingers press down just so on the cleaning cloth as her hands make lazy circles on the bar––and so the bartender asks again. “Hello? Whaddya want?” </p><p>Dani jerks up, eyes flitting nervously around before settling back on the bartender’s face. She swallows. “Uh, I’ll have a, uh…”</p><p>She has the bartender’s full attention now, the bartender’s eyes steady on Dani’s face, unblinking. </p><p>“I’ll have…” Dani hadn’t thought this far ahead. She casts about frantically for a menu, a specials board, anything, before biting her lip and looking back at the bartender hopefully. “An ale?” She tries.</p><p>The bartender’s hand comes to a stop on the counter.</p><p>“I–– Is that… Do you have…”</p><p>“An ale,” the bartender repeats. </p><p>“Yeah.” Dani smiles widely, proudly, nodding as if to cement her decision.</p><p>“You know there are different kinds of ale, right?” The bartender’s brow is furrowing again. </p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>The two of them are quiet, staring at each other, the bartender’s lips pursed as she watches Dani carefully, Dani trying to look anywhere but at the bartender’s lips. </p><p>Dani gulps instead. “Then I’ll take whichever ale is your favorite.”</p><p>The bartender doesn’t say anything, only raises her eyebrows before turning away to duck under the counter and pull a bottle out of the fridge. She pops the cap off and slides it across to Dani, offering nothing besides a low “86 pence” before crossing back to the other side of the bar.</p><p>There isn’t anyone there, no one calling her over or trying to order, no one pulling her away from Dani. She just slides Dani her drink and goes, leaning against the register with her arms crossed, eyes scanning the plant-lined shelves across from the bar, shoulders relaxing as she takes them in. </p><p>Dani had seen it, though. The small tug at the corner of the bartender’s mouth as she’d raised her eyebrows. The way her eyes had glinted in the light from the candle in front of her before she’d turned away. </p><p>Dani smiles as she lifts the cool bottle to her mouth.</p>
<hr/><p>Dani’s back the next day at noon on the dot, bouncing softly on the balls of her feet in the gravel outside the Manor. She’s glancing at her watch nervously, hands wringing in front of her when she finally hears the quiet <em> click </em>of the lock turning. With a sigh of relief, her hands drop to her sides, where they’re hanging when the bartender opens the door.</p><p>Whatever comment the bartender is going to make about Dani waiting at the door for the pub to open dies on her lips as she takes her in.</p><p>“You dress up just for me?”</p><p>Dani stares at her for a minute.</p><p>The bartender nods at her, eyes drifting down and back up again.</p><p>Dani feels herself flush. Looking down to avoid the bartender’s close gaze, she realizes why she’s asked. “Oh,” she breathes out with a nervous laugh. “No, I–– I, uh… I had a job interview today?”</p><p>“A job interview.”</p><p>Dani nods eagerly.</p><p>“If you’re so sure, why’d it sound like a question?”</p><p>Dani blinks at her, nose crinkling a little before glancing at the street around them. “Can we go inside?”</p><p>“Sure.” The bartender shrugs, stepping inside to make room for Dani. “You are my guest, after all.”</p><p>Dani slips past her, glancing back at the bartender over her shoulder as she does. “Your guest?”</p><p>The door swings shut as the bartender crosses over behind the bar. “You’re the customer, I keep the bar, yeah?”</p><p>“I guess so––”</p><p>“Unless you want to make me a drink?” The corner of the bartender’s mouth quirks up. “You know what I like, after all.”</p><p>Dani’s mouth goes dry, and it takes her a moment to remember that she’d asked to try the woman’s favorite ale the previous night. “No, I–– I trust you.”</p><p>The bartender doesn’t say anything at that, just smiles widely.</p><p>“What’s your name, anyway?”</p><p>“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.” </p><p>“I asked you first!” </p><p>The bartender smirks as she picks up a clean glass, slipping it under a tap. “You’re the customer, I keep the bar, yeah?”</p><p>Dani huffs. “Yes, but––”</p><p>“My bar,” the bartender slides the light-colored ale over to Dani, “my rules.” She grabs another glass.</p><p>Dani watches her for a moment, ignoring the glass in front of her, before sticking her hand out across the bar. “I’m Dani,” she says, “Dani Clayton.” </p><p>The bartender pulls the second glass away from the tap, setting it down before reaching out to take Dani’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Dani Clayton.”</p><p>The bartender’s hand is warm, calluses gently grazing Dani’s fingers as she shakes her hand. Her nails are neatly trimmed, Dani notices, but she catches a speck of dirt along her pinkie. That explains the plants’ meticulous mystery caretaker, Dani thinks. She hums to herself.</p><p>“I’m Jamie.”</p><p>Neither of them let go. “Just Jamie?” </p><p>“Just Jamie. Now,” Dani feels a pang as Jamie pulls her hand away, “tell me about this questionable job interview.”</p><p>Jamie can <em> feel </em> Dani relax, sinking into her stool and spreading her arms out across the bar in front of her. “It was more like… A performance evaluation?” She crinkles her nose, then tries again. “A sort of… Job interview-performance evaluation.”</p><p>“A sort of job interview-performance evaluation,” Jamie echoes. </p><p>“Well, I’m a nanny. Kind of,” she adds quickly, “I’m a teacher by trade, but I… I had to leave, wanted to come somewhere new, and I saw this nanny–– Au pair? Job–– Should you be drinking that? On the job, I mean?”</p><p>Jamie raises her eyebrows at Dani over her glass. “Do you see anyone else in here?”</p><p>Dani looks around. “The plants,” she challenges, looking back at Jamie, then lowers her voice conspiratorially. “What if there’s a watering emergency?”</p><p>Jamie tries to bite back a grin. “Aside from them.”</p><p>Dani narrows her eyes at her. “No,” she concedes. </p><p>“Right. And I promise you no one else will be until long after this is out of my system. Now, do you want to keep telling me how to run my bar, or do you want to keep telling me about this Mary Poppins gig?” Jamie’s trying to intimidate, but there’s no bite in it, especially not with that half-grin still plastered to her face.</p><p>Dani can’t help but stare, eyes slipping down to the curl of Jamie’s lips. </p><p>“Poppins?”</p><p>“Oh!” Dani’s eyes jerk back up and she reaches for her glass, picking it up from the top to drink deeply before continuing, Jamie’s eyes tracking the movement in her throat as she does.</p><p>“Right, so I saw this job and applied. This family–– These kids need… A teacher, someone to look after them during the week while their uncle is at work. School didn’t work out for them, I guess,” she shrugs. “But I can’t say I blame them. If it’s anything like back home, the kids who need the most help are always the ones who get the least.”</p><p>“And these kids, they need the most help?”</p><p>“Their parents… Died,” Dani shivers involuntarily. “That’s how they ended up with their uncle. And he seems good, he loves them, but… He just works so much. He’s cut back,” she adds quickly, “the position is live-in, and I don’t have to work on the weekends he’s around. You can tell he… He loves them a lot.”</p><p>Jamie’s watching Dani as she talks, catches the shiver that runs through her despite the warmth of the Manor, sees her eyes lose focus as she goes on. She wonders where Dani’s gone, into which memories she’s tucked herself away. Jamie has a guess; she’s lost parents too, in one way or another. She doesn’t even realize it when a part of her starts wondering if she could follow Dani there, into one of the dark corners of her mind––corners Jamie knows so well from her own––if only to keep her company while she waits for whatever beast lurks at the margins to pass.</p><p>They’re staring at each other again, another part of her finally registers dumbly. Jamie swallows. “So you’re working with the Wingrave kids?”</p><p>It breaks the spell, and Dani’s blinking a couple of times before surging back into the conversation. “Yeah, Miles and––”  She stops, cocking her head at Jamie. “I didn’t tell you I was working with the Wingraves.”</p><p>The corner of Jamie’s mouth twitches. “It’s a small town, Poppins.”</p><p>Dani just stares back at her.</p><p>“Yeah,” Jamie forces herself to glance away, focusing instead on adjusting and readjusting the same few stalks of eucalyptus in a bottle in front of her, “my good mate Owen helps out with them sometimes.”</p><p>“You know Owen?” Dani’s voice is excited now, and she’s ducking down to try to catch Jamie’s eye. “He made the best cake the other night!”</p><p>Jamie grins, looking back up at Dani. “Strawberry or lemon?”</p><p>Dani takes a deep breath. “This feels like a test.”</p><p>“Maybe it is,” there’s a mischievous glint in Jamie’s eyes.</p><p>Dani purses her lips, sizing Jamie up, but before she can offer a retort, Jamie’s changed the subject.</p><p>“So… Job interview-performance evaluation?” </p><p>“Oh! So, I’ve never done anything… Quite like this before. I mean, I can manage a dang good classroom, and I like working with kids who need… A little more help, but I’ve never <em> lived </em> at <em> school </em> before,” she pulls a face, and Jamie laughs. “Mr. Wingrave–– Henry, he wanted to do a sort of trial run with me first, and it’s been one week, so...” She gestures vaguely at her blouse. “Job interview-performance evaluation.” </p><p>“How’d it go, then?”</p><p>Dani sits up a little straighter, shoulders proud. “Good,” she grins at Jamie. “I got the job.”</p><p>Jamie grins back, holding up her glass. “Cheers, then.”</p><p>Dani beams. She raises her glass to clink against Jamie’s.</p><p>Jamie’s not sure she’s ever seen a smile so beautiful. “To Dani Clayton!”</p><p>They spend the rest of the afternoon in conversation, Jamie animatedly explaining the disparate personalities of the Manor’s floral inhabitants, more alive in those moments than Dani has seen her, Dani trading classroom horror stories and inane American cultural practices. (“So biscuits are cookies, and we have biscuits too, but they’re more like scones–– But we also have scones, so...”) Neither Dani nor Jamie could recount later what they’d spoken about, only that they couldn’t take their eyes off each other; Dani soaking in the way Jamie’s eyes crinkled at the corners when she laughed, Jamie in awe of just how wide Dani’s smile could get. </p><p>It’s only when the bell above the door jingles softly that Jamie remembers herself, pulling back from where she’s leaning, forearms on the bar, across from Dani. It’s sudden, and Dani would be hurt––Jamie feels… Guarded, somehow, now––if not for Jamie’s low “drink’s on me today. Glad you’re sticking around” as she’d pulled away. </p><p>When Dani steps out into the crisp air outside the Manor, door slipping quietly shut behind her, she doesn’t notice the way the air feels against the warm flush of her skin, doesn’t bother to check the sidewalk on either side for people before turning back towards the Wingraves’. She’s preoccupied, smiling to herself, playing back the last few moments of her afternoon at the Manor.</p><p>She’d been up, pulling on her coat, readying herself for the chill outside when she had heard a call from across the bar. “Hey Poppins!”</p><p>Dani looked up, face softening when she saw Jamie grinning at her from where she was leaning against the register, hands stuffed in the pockets of her overalls.</p><p>“Since you’re a teacher, you know maths, yeah?”</p><p>Dani’d stared at her, waiting for the penny to drop.</p><p>Jamie’s grin had only widened. “So why’d you leave me a 200% tip the other night?”</p><p>And then she’d winked.</p><p>And that’s something, Dani thinks, trudging along the cobblestones, she won’t be forgetting any time soon.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm hoping to post the second chapter sometime over the next couple of days, so if you're so inclined, please stay tuned.</p><p>Shout-out to yearinla for reading this over before it was posted, and to you all for reading now. Thank you!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Manor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Instead, the corner of Jamie’s mouth twitches––finally, Dani thinks––and she leans forward too, forearms on the bar, meeting Dani in the middle. “Poppins…” </p><p>Dani can feel Jamie’s breath on her face. Her eyelids flutter involuntarily.</p><p>“...You know this is a lesbian pub, right?”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On Sunday mornings, the Wingraves have brunch.</p><p>Dani’s not <em> required </em> to be there––Henry had meant it when he promised her as many weekends off as possible––but she wants to be. It’s her first full day as the Wingraves’ officially hired, live-in au pair (“don’t sell yourself short,” Owen had insisted, spoon arm slung across her shoulders, “you’re so much more than just a nanny”), sure, but it’s also more than that. It’s warm, Dani thinks, nice. It feels like a family.</p><p>A family isn’t something she’s felt in a long time.</p><p>“So, Dani,” Henry looks over his plate at her, “did you get up to anything exciting yesterday? Your first Bly weekend,” he muses, steam drifting lazily upwards as he cuts into the sausages on his plate.</p><p>Dani blanches, using the moment to quickly shove a forkful of fried egg into her mouth. She shrugs apologetically at Henry, gesturing to her mouth as she chews. Miles watches, amused, and Flora eyes her with curiosity from her spot across the table, where she’s settled next to Henry. Dani swallows. “Just, you know… Exploring Bly,” she offers with a smile, hoping it’s enough to suffice.</p><p>It isn’t.</p><p>“Any spots you liked?” Henry’s not prying, he’s genuinely curious. Dani knows he misses London, can easily spot the distinction between his taste and the tailor’s shop next to the Manor, but something in him resonates with her Midwestern upbringing. It’s the pride he takes in the place he grew up, she thinks. </p><p>“Oh, I didn’t really explore <em> that </em> closely. Just… Walked around. Took in the town.”</p><p>“You do that a lot,” Flora chimes in, “walking.” </p><p>Flora is right; Dani wakes and starts her days with a walk into town and ends them with one, taking the time to clear her head before breakfast and then to decompress at the end of each day. “It… Helps me think, I guess,” Dani explains with a smile. And if she happens to walk by the Manor on her way, as she had on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before finally succumbing… Well, that doesn’t hurt either. “I’m happy to walk with you, Flora,” she offers, “anywhere you’d like to go.” </p><p>Flora’s eyes alight with possibilities, and Dani can see her mentally cataloguing all the places she’d like to walk with Dani: the garden, the glorified pond a little ways down the street, Florida, probably, if they could.</p><p>“If you need any recommendations,” Owen proffers from his spot down the table, mopping up beans with his toast, “a friend of mine runs a pub in town. You may not want to go to the pub, but I could at least introduce you. Might help to have a friend. Besides us,” he adds quickly, waggling his eyebrows at Flora and Miles.</p><p>“I–– I think I’m okay for now,” Dani glances nervously over at Henry, but he’s no longer paying attention, busy instead diffusing a would-be food fight between the two children. “Thank you, Owen,” she adds with a smile, “I do appreciate it.” </p><p>Owen nods thoughtfully and smiles back, and Dani crosses her fingers under the table that he hadn’t noticed the split-second of recognition before she’d answered.</p><hr/><p>The Manor is packed.</p><p>Dani hadn’t expected it, wasn’t sure what she’d expected on a Sunday afternoon, but what she did know was that it wasn’t this. </p><p>The booths along the far wall are filled, half-filled bottles crowding the tables––though everyone seems to have respected Jamie’s eucalyptus, Dani notes with a smile to herself, their bottles giving the plants a wide berth, even on the little surface left––and coats shoved hastily into the benches’ corners, between nestled patrons and the smooth, dark wood paneling of the wall.</p><p>There are a few customers at the bar too, chatting easily with each other, nursing cocktails in their hands. Dani spots Jamie leaning against the register, arms crossed as she listens to a conversation between two women, brows furrowed as she looks back and forth between them. Dani feels herself smiling as soon as she sees her, pulling a stool out from under the bar and slipping her jacket off of her shoulders.</p><p>She’s still watching Jamie, so she sees when Jamie sees her, sees Jamie glance down the bar, her face immediately softening and breaking into a grin when she sees Dani. Dani feels her own smile widening as Jamie leans in towards the two women in front of her, making sure they're happy with their drinks before pushing off to make her way down to Dani.</p><p>“Three days in a row? Wingrave kids driving you to drink already, Poppins?”</p><p>“Maybe,” Dani humors her, “or maybe…”</p><p>“Or maybe?” Jamie raises an eyebrow. </p><p>Dani doesn’t reply, only smirks at her, blue eyes twinkling in the afternoon light filtering in through the foggy windows. </p><p>“Alright,” Jamie shrugs, “keep your secrets.” She swivels around to reach for a glossy glass bottle from a shelf with one hand before turning back to face Dani, grabbing a tumbler from the rack underneath the bar with her other.</p><p>“This is the second day in a row you haven’t asked me what I wanted,” Dani muses absently, watching Jamie’s hands as they begin to work. </p><p>“That’s because on the first day, you walked into my bar and didn’t know there was more than one kind of ale,” Jamie responds matter-of-factly, pouring two fingers of honey-colored liquor into the glass. “It’s easier this way.” She lowers her voice, pouring something that smells faintly like apples into the glass, looking up at Dani through her lashes. “Less embarrassing for you.”</p><p>Dani doesn’t take the bait; instead, she levels her eyes to Jamie’s. “Maybe it’s for the best,” she says evenly, turning Jamie’s words back onto her, “you know what I like, after all.”</p><p>Dani sees Jamie swallow, catches the slight tremble of her hands as she moves to quickly stir the drink in the glass. “Let’s see if I can go three for three,” Jamie recovers, sliding the tumbler across the bar to Dani. “You’re probably here looking for something sweet, yeah?”</p><p>Dani doesn’t take her eyes off of Jamie’s, all but ignoring the drink in front of her. “I’ve always had a soft spot for something a little more sour, actually.”</p><p>Jamie holds her gaze, unfazed. “Better take a sip, then.”</p><p>They stare at each other a moment longer before Dani breaks away, looking askance at the drink in front of her before bringing it to her lips. </p><p>She can barely taste the liquor––there’s enough to remind her not to drink too many... Whatever Jamie calls it, but not enough to be overpowering––and there’s something unmistakably apple about it. Something unmistakably sour apple.</p><p>Her eyes immediately snap back up to Jamie, who’s grinning at her.</p><p>“You scared me!” Dani accuses, but Jamie just laughs. </p><p>“You should’ve seen your face, Poppins. I thought you were going to reach across the bar and throttle–– Hold that thought,” Jamie’s face turns apologetic as she slips away, down the bar to refill a gimlet.</p><p>Dani watches her go, biting her lip as she breathes a sigh of relief, slumping down against the bar. Bravado is exhausting, she thinks, taking another sip of her drink as she waits, shaking her head and smiling to herself, before glancing around the crowded––crowded, she thinks, for Bly and for the Manor––room again.</p><p>When Jamie makes her way back up the bar, she’s greeted by an inquisitive look from Dani. Jamie raises a careful eyebrow in return.</p><p>Dani leans forward with a flourish, spurred on, resting both arms on the bar between them. “So here’s the thing,” she starts excitedly, “this place is <em> packed</em>. Packed, well, for Bly I mean. And it’s a Sunday afternoon. People should be… I don’t know, at church, or with their families. But instead…” She looks around the room again before her eyes settle back on Jamie. “Instead they’re here.”</p><p>Jamie looks at her for a long time.</p><p>Dani’s worried she’s said the wrong thing, worried she’s approached this all wrong, worried that Jamie is going to close up again, this time without a smile or a wink or any of the warmth she’s come to expect after… Three whole days. </p><p>Instead, the corner of Jamie’s mouth twitches––finally, Dani thinks––and she leans forward too, forearms on the bar, meeting Dani in the middle. “Poppins…” </p><p>Dani can feel Jamie’s breath on her face. Her eyelids flutter involuntarily.</p><p>“...You know this is a lesbian pub, right?”</p><p>Dani stares at her coolly for a second, unblinking. It’s only later that her mouth drops open, Jamie notices, punctuated with a “No–– Really?”</p><p>Dani takes care to look around the Manor again, as if taking everyone in for the first time. “All these people…” she breathes out, “All these people are… Lesbians?”</p><p>Jamie’s mouth quirks up now, watching Dani’s eyes flit around her handful of customers. Not with fear, she observes, or nervousness, though she wouldn’t expect either from Dani anyway; Jamie wouldn’t have told her if she had. Instead, it’s exploratory. Dani’s taking everyone in, considering them. Jamie feels a surge in her chest at the realization, feels it again, harder, when Dani’s eyes finally make their way back to Jamie, settling on her with what feels like finality. Like she’s made a decision, or… Jamie thinks, like she’s vindicated in one she’d already made.</p><p>“That’s… A lot of people,” Dani finally breaks the silence, “I thought this was a small town.” </p><p>“It is,” Jamie acknowledges, grabbing a glass from the drying rack and pouring herself some water, “but you’d be surprised. We’re everywhere, Dani Clayton.”</p><p>Dani doesn’t miss a beat. “Kinda like ghosts?” she asks earnestly.</p><p>“Ghosts?”</p><p>“Well, you can’t always see them,” Dani explains, and Jamie thinks this is the same tone she saves for when she’s delivering a particularly challenging lesson, “but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. And there are usually more of them than you think,” she adds cheerfully.</p><p>“Huh.” </p><p>Dani shrugs, taking another sip of her drink. </p><p>“So yes,” Jamie leans back in towards Dani again, and Dani’s breath hitches when Jamie’s fingers graze hers, her hands settling even closer than they had before, “all of these people are lesbians. For the most part, anyway,” she shrugs and reaches for her water.</p><p>Dani raises her eyebrows in response, daring herself to lean in further. </p><p>Jamie knows what she’s asking, knows what Dani wants to hear, and sighs, glancing down the bar and over at the booths before looking back at Dani.</p><p>If Jamie is more protective of anything than herself––or her plants, if she’s being honest––it’s her customers. The Manor is surreptitious enough, but Dani’s right: Bly is still a small town, as are the others nearby from which some of the Manor’s patrons hail, and for every smiling neighbor in Bly, thanking Jamie for the Christmas lilies or the Easter lilies or whatever propagates she has on hand, she has no idea how many grinning monsters lurk underneath, waiting to swath themselves in the Church, spitting vitriol if only they’d find out. Vitriol at best, she thinks grimly to herself.</p><p>“Jamie?” Dani’s voice brings Jamie back, Jamie looking back up at Dani from where her eyes had drifted, boring a hole in the dark wood of the bar.</p><p>There are bound to be some monsters out there, Jamie acknowledges, eyes tracking the lines of Dani’s face, the worried crease between her eyebrows, the soft part of her lips, but here’s Dani Clayton. And she isn’t one of them.</p><p>She’s looking for something else.</p><p>“Okay,” Jamie breathes out, nodding to herself, “okay.”</p><p>“Okay,” it’s an echoed whisper from Dani, more for her than for Jamie. Jamie offers her a small smile nonetheless.</p><p>Jamie leans back a little then, breaking the quiet that’s settled between them. “Alright,” she raps a hand on the bar, and Dani can sense distance again; not between them, necessarily, but within Jamie herself. She’s shut a valve somewhere, covered some opening, and the corner of her mouth is crooked up again, relaxed and easy and closed as she glances furtively down the bar.</p><p>Jamie opens her mouth to speak, but then quickly closes it again, realizing something, before cocking her head at Dani, eyeing her warily. “You… You know what regulars are, yeah?”</p><p>“Of course I know what regulars are.”</p><p>Jamie holds up both hands. “Listen, you can’t blame me for asking. ‘I’ll have an ale,’ and all,” she says ruefully, eyes twinkling.</p><p>Dani shakes her head at Jamie, but she’s smiling. “Are you ever going to let me live that down?” </p><p>“Are you ever going to learn how to order a proper drink?” Dani opens her mouth in indignation, but Jamie doesn’t give her the chance to respond, nodding instead at one of the two women midway down the bar, the one who’d ordered the gimlet, soft curls tied neatly back in a low bun held tight by a small comb, runaway wisps grazing the shoulders of her silk blouse. “Rebecca’s one of our newer regulars–– Was our newest, until you,” and Jamie’s eyes drift back to Dani, giving her a quick up and down before looking back to Rebecca. “She clerks for Mr. Wingrave, actually, but in a town small as this one, there’s not much place for her to go from there. Pity,” Jamie adds bitterly, “because she’s better than half the fucking barristers I’ve ever met.”</p><p>“She seems lovely,” Dani whispers, watching Rebecca laughing, fingers playing with the pages of a book resting on the bar beside her. </p><p>“She is,” Jamie agrees, “but her boyfriend’s not. They’re on-again, off-again,” she explains, catching Dani’s slight furrow, “and if Rebecca’s here, that means they’re off-again. Wish they’d stay off forever, the prick. He came here once, looking for her.” Jamie jerks her chin towards what looks like an old BB gun resting underneath the register. “That’s why I have this. I’ve only ever shot tin cans out back for practice, but I’d be more than happy to add Peter fucking Quint to the tally.”</p><p>Dani swallows, reaching for her tumbler as Jamie nods at one of the booths behind them. “Those two… Don’t turn around,” and Dani freezes where she is, mid-turn. “Subtlety isn’t your strong suit, is it, Poppins?”</p><p>“I can be subtle if I want,” Dani protests, and Jamie only shakes her head, smiling, in response.</p><p>“Those two have been here as long as I have,” Jamie continues. “They tend to keep to themselves, so it’s not my place to tell, but they’re good people. One, the one on the left, she’s one of Bly’s doctors. Does good work. She’s helped Owen’s mum a bit. The other,” Jamie cocks her head to the right, at the woman sitting across from the doctor, “she’s a vet. Served in the Women’s Royal Army Corps, but I don’t know too much else about her, other than that I’ve never seen her slouch and she doesn’t talk too much. I have seen her chatting with your Mr. Wingrave, though,” she says, “in town sometimes. Seems like they’ve known each other a while.”</p><p>Dani nods, eyes drifting back around the room. “What about her?” she nods at a woman at the far end of the bar, slouched over a glass, dark hair all but a curtain over her face. </p><p>Jamie’s eyes immediately snap back to Dani. “That’s Viola,” and Dani thinks she sounds almost cautious.</p><p>“Viola?”</p><p>“Yeah, Viola. She… She’s here all the time. I’m surprised you haven’t seen her yet, to be honest.” Jamie glances back down the length of the bar towards the woman. “She keeps to herself, mostly. Likes to sulk. Had a really bad split a ways back, and her ex got their kid. She’s never gotten over it, really.” Jamie glances back at Dani, whose gaze is fixed on Viola. </p><p>“It’s a sad story,” Dani murmurs.</p><p>“It is,” Jamie agrees, “but look, Dani… Leave her be. Don’t go getting involved with that.”</p><p>Dani looks back at Jamie, their eyes steady on each other’s. Jamie is relieved by what she sees in Dani’s gaze, but there’s also something inscrutable there, something she can’t quite interpret.</p><p>“Seriously, Poppins, between the drinking and the tears that come with it, she’s practically drowning by last call. Fully underwater,” she quips. “It’s a sad story, but it’s not worth the effort. Not for whatever you’re going to get out of it.” </p><p>Dani’s eyes slide back to Jamie. “A little empathy could help,” and Jamie’s opening her mouth, retort ready, but Dani’s changing the subject. “And what about you?” </p><p>“What about me?” Jamie raises an eyebrow. </p><p>“Well,” Dani shrugs innocently, “you’ve told me about everyone else. So what about you?”</p><p>Jamie purses her lips at her, thoughtful, but then Viola is calling for another drink and Jamie’s rolling her eyes at Dani before crossing back down the bar, grabbing a bottle of gin from the top shelf on her way. Jamie has to go up onto her tiptoes to reach it, and Dani’s eyes can’t help but graze where her shirt rides up as she does, eyes lingering on the dimples situated along her lower back.</p><p>There’s a care there, Dani notes, watching Jamie mix Viola’s cocktail, leaning in to whisper something to her as she does, coaxing the ghost of a smile out of the woman’s drawn face. There’s a care there even with Viola, as much as Jamie doesn’t want to admit it. </p><p>By the time Jamie makes her way back to Dani, Dani’s pulling on her coat, a small handful of bills stacked neatly on the bar in front of her.</p><p>“Hope I haven’t scared you off, Poppins.”</p><p>Dani looks up at her. “Nothing to be scared of here. Not even ghosts,” she adds, smiling softly.</p><p>“So… I should expect to be making you another drink soon, then?” It’s a loaded question, and Jamie knows it, leaning her hip against the bar, as nonchalant as possible.</p><p>Dani’s face softens more as she watches her for a moment, coat forgotten. “I’d... Like that,” she finally says. “I–– I’m glad you’re here.” It’s loaded too, and whether it’s about Jamie or the Manor or both, it’s an unspoken answer to Jamie’s unspoken question. </p><p>Jamie swallows. “Yeah. Me too.”</p><p>It’s Dani who finally pulls herself away from their shared gaze, intensity broken, ducking her head and returning to her jacket. “I should get back. Lesson plans,” she explains.</p><p>“Still gotta work on those maths, eh?”</p><p>Dani’s eyebrow quirks up. “If I’m working on my math, I think you need to think about your…” she frowns, searching for the word, “mixology?” Before Jamie can take offense, Dani nods at her empty glass on the bar. “Your mixology. Because you’re right, I do like sour. But there was some sweetness at the end too, and I was… Surprised, I guess. But I liked it,” she bites her lip, offering Jamie another small smile. “See you next time, Jamie.”</p><p>Then she’s gone, and Jamie’s watching her go, squinting through the fogged up windows, watching Dani’s silhouette until she can’t see it anymore, swallowed back up the world outside the Manor.</p><p>And then Viola’s waving her over, empty glass in hand, and Jamie’s waving back with an “oy, Vi, hold your horses, yeah?” Viola huffs at the nickname, but a moment later, she’s slowly lowering her hand.</p><p><em> Empathy, </em> Dani had said.</p><p>Jamie lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, body sagging against the counter behind her, mind racing momentarily back to Dani’s face as she’d looked around at the Manor’s patrons, as Dani’s eyes had found their way back to settle on Jamie, at the pang Jamie had felt in her chest, and the soft recognition she’d seen in Dani’s face.</p><p>“Who the hell knew,” Jamie whispers.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Shout-out, as always, to yearinla, this time for suggesting "Vi" as a nickname... Then and now.</p><p>A huge thank you to you all too, for reading, and for your reviews! I really appreciate your kind words.</p><p>I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by the end of the week, but in the meantime, take care of yourselves, especially now. May we all get the extra fluff we need in the coming days––and then some!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Patio</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hannah leans in across the table. “Don’t think we haven’t noticed how lively you’ve been these last few weeks.” </p><p>“I’m always lively,” Jamie crosses her arms. “I’m alive, aren’t I?”</p><p>Owen and Hannah exchange a look. </p><p>“You can tell us, you know,” Hannah continues, “anything you want.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So,” Jamie starts with a grin, looking up at her slyly out of the corner of her eye, “you planning that trip yet?” </p><p>The woman tilts her head towards Jamie, looking calmly back at her, unblinking. “What trip?”</p><p>Jamie purses her lips, shrugging innocently, and clips the bottom of the stem she’s holding between her gloved fingers, letting the shorn piece fall onto the paper-covered bar. She gently slips the freshly cut rose into a bottle in front of her. “Just heard rumblings is all. Rumblings about you. Paris. Our mutual friend over there,” she glances down the bar, where Owen is dutifully unloading fresh bottles from their crates.</p><p>She’s met with a loud, musical laugh as Hannah Grose sweeps the newly anointed bottle away, crossing over to one of the booths to swap it for the now dried eucalyptus. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says easily, sliding the bottle towards the center of the table. “Here? Or here?”</p><p>Jamie’s eyes narrow as she assesses the table before getting up to cross the room herself, reaching around Hannah to shift the bottle to the right. It’s an almost imperceptible difference, Jamie knows, but it’s February now, and with the way the light is coming in through the windows, a few centimeters would make all the difference.</p><p>Hannah sighs, settling on the edge of the polished wooden seat next to her, hands tucked neatly in her lap. “I really don’t understand why you agree to let us help when you’re going to redo it all yourself, anyway. You know I wouldn’t be offended if you just said no,” she offers, raising her eyebrows at Jamie. </p><p>Jamie’s eyes are still moving between the rose and the window and back again, but Hannah can spot the twinkle in them nonetheless. “Ever consider it’s about the company, Hannah, love?”</p><p>Hannah scoffs.</p><p>“Behind a bar all day, dealing with rowdy customers… Absolute savages, this lot. Maybe you two are my breath of fresh air.”</p><p>“Sounds un-bar-able,” Owen quips from the bar. </p><p>“See?” Jamie smiles, content with the placement of the bottle. “Breath of fresh air.”</p><p>Hannah turns, giving Owen a look. “Maybe too fresh.”</p><p>Hannah isn’t a patron of the Manor; Jamie had met her through Owen, when Jamie had first come to Bly. Hannah is unflappable, a calm, solid figure in town, warm and approachable despite a presence demanding respect. She had been involved with the Church for a long time, Jamie knows, but something had pulled her away, leaving an indelible crack between Hannah and the rest of Bly. Instead, then, she’d drifted off, keeping to herself and the few she held close.</p><p>Hannah isn’t unlike herself in that way, Jamie’s often mused, though one look at the way Hannah looks at Owen makes clear the differences between them. The line demarcating Jamie––and the Manor––from the rest of Bly is hard, clear, and Hannah’s… It’s blurred, Jamie thinks. There are places she doesn’t dare enter, truths she refuses to look in the eye, but there’s no grudge there. Only forgiveness, and love, in spite of it all.</p><p>It’s something Jamie can’t understand. Refuses to understand.</p><p>Owen sinks into the booth across from Hannah, offering her a small smile. “Never too fresh, I hope.” </p><p>Jamie watches Hannah smile back, watches the two of them get lost in each other. She gives them the moment, smiling softly to herself as she heads back to the bar to clear the crumpled brown paper and stem clippings. </p><p>A moment later, she’s heading back to the table, bottle of wine in her hand. “On me, okay? Thanks for helping out today.”</p><p>“Only if you promise to share it with us,” Owen scoots against the wall, and Jamie’s already sliding into the cramped booth next to him, even as she shakes her head.</p><p>“Besides,” Owen continues, “it’s time <em> you </em> told <em> us </em> about your life.” </p><p>Jamie blanches. “I–– My life?”</p><p>Hannah leans in across the table. “Don’t think we haven’t noticed how lively you’ve been these last few weeks.” </p><p>“I’m always lively,” Jamie crosses her arms. “I’m alive, aren’t I?”</p><p>Owen and Hannah exchange a look. </p><p>“You can tell us, you know,” Hannah continues, “anything you want.”</p><p>Jamie stares at them both, then around the room. “I think you two know everything you need to,” she says carefully. “You’ve spent the morning helping me out at my lesbian pub, yeah?”</p><p>Owen laughs, passing Jamie the bottle. “Okay, okay. But seriously,” he glances at Hannah, then back at Jamie before continuing, “can I ask you one thing?”</p><p>Jamie takes a swig from the bottle, waving him on with her free hand.</p><p>“Why roses?”</p><p>She swallows. “Why roses what?”</p><p>“What made you decide to put out roses?”</p><p>Jamie shrugs. “The eucalyptus was just about dried up.”</p><p>“Okay,” Owen’s patient, Hannah watching them both placidly. “So why not put out more eucalyptus?”</p><p>Jamie takes another drink and shrugs. “Valentine’s Day coming up, I guess. Thought I could dress up this old girl for the occasion.”</p><p>“And when,” Owen and Hannah glance at each other again, “was the last time you did anything for Valentine’s Day?”</p><p>Jamie sets the bottle down, glancing over at Owen. “That’s two questions, mate.” Her voice is low, almost dangerous, but Owen is unperturbed. </p><p>“Oh, come on, Jamie,” Hannah leans back against the cool wood. “Relax. It’s just us. You can tell us about her.”</p><p>Jamie’s never properly told them, never had to say the words to Owen or Hannah out loud. It had only ever just <em> been</em>, and when she’d told them she wanted to open the Manor, they’d immediately understood. Hannah had murmured something about Virginia Woolf, “a room of one’s own,” and Owen had been so earnest as to spare her a pun, instead vowing only to help however he could––“while respecting the sanctity of the space, of course,” he’d added seriously. Jamie had had to invite him in multiple times before he’d even set foot in the Manor (“you’re not a bloody vampire, Owen,” she’d muttered, corner of her mouth quirked up), and even then, he only ever came in before she opened for the day, or after she’d closed.</p><p>Jamie stares at Hannah for a moment, then looks back at Owen, wordlessly.</p><p>He grins, passing her the bottle again, watching her take a deep drink, before:</p><p>“It’s nothing, really. It’s only just… She’s only just been coming in for a few weeks now, but… I dunno,” Jamie shrugs, brow furrowing as she passes the bottle to Hannah. “I thought you didn’t like gossip,” she accuses. </p><p>Hannah laughs again, accepting the bottle. “Call it good Christian concern, then.”</p><p>Owen laughs, and Jamie narrows her eyes––she’s pretty sure she’s used that one on Hannah before herself––but continues. “She’s nice,” she offers vaguely, “a bit of a weirdo,” she continues with a smile, and Owen and Hannah glance at each other as Jamie’s eyes start to drift, her mind going down a path they’re not sure they’ve ever seen her take before, “pretty,” and she flushes a little, “maybe too pretty, and we… Well.” Jame shrugs, swallowing. Wherever she’d gone, Hannah thinks, she’s back now. “I’m always working, you know? Can’t exactly ask her to get a drink when I’m the one making the drinks.”</p><p>“But you would?” Hannah raises her eyebrows. “You would ask her for one?”</p><p>Jamie catches herself in that moment, blinking a couple of times before looking away and slumping down in the booth. “She’s my customer,” she says finally, resolute. “It’d be bad for business.”</p><p>“But surely a little harmless flirting couldn’t hurt?” Hannah glances over at Owen, who quickly nods his agreement. </p><p>Jamie doesn’t respond, only stares at her boots.</p><p>“Oh, come on, Jamie,” Hannah leans forward, catching Jamie’s eye. “You’re allowed to let yourself be happy, you know.”</p><p>It’s a conversation the three of them have circled before, Hannah prodding gently, Owen slipping up underneath Jamie’s guard with a series of thoughtful questions. Jamie pivots or blocks, depending on the day, turning the conversation back on them with a laugh and a smirk or an outright refusal to answer, focusing instead on the floor or the flowers or the fleck of dirt on her Doc Martens. </p><p>Today it’s the latter.</p><p>“Yeah, well,” Jamie finally says, sniffing and sitting back up, “I’m happy enough. Like my life the way it is,” she pushes off the table and walks backwards back to the bar, watching Hannah and Owen wearily. </p><p>It says enough that Jamie doesn’t offer a quick retort, Owen thinks, watching her as she goes.</p><p>“And you’re right to.” Hannah stands up, dusting off her lap. “But if you ever need someone to watch over the Manor for one night…”</p><p>Hannah watches Jamie bite the corner of her bottom lip, and Hannah knows she has her. </p><p>“Yeah, maybe,” she finally concedes, looking back at Hannah with a small smile. “Thanks. And you’ll watch it now, yeah?” Just like that, she’s back to the public Jamie, eyes bright and tone lilting. “I promised Owen a lift back and want to drop some of these extra roses with his mum.”</p><p>“Of course. It’ll, what, only be Vi anyway, right?”</p><p>It’s quick––blink and she’d miss it––but Jamie hesitates. “Probably,” she says, “hopefully.” </p>
<hr/><p>It’s not only Vi. </p><p>It’s damn near everyone, Jamie learns, slipping back into the Manor an hour later, two dozen roses lighter and what has to be at least half a kettle of tea heavier.</p><p>It’s damn near everyone, and they’re all staring at her as she slips her jacket off of her shoulders and onto a hook near the door. Even the doctor and the ex-soldier, snug in their usual booth, hands wrapped around Hannah’s hot toddies, so used to keeping to themselves, are watching her carefully. The doctor sees Jamie’s eyes light on them, and inclines her head towards the end of the bar.</p><p>Jamie knows what she’s going to see before she sees it. </p><p>Sure enough: there’s Viola, two hot toddies in, empty shot glasses caught in her orbit, and there’s Dani, ensnared by that same gravity, laughing loudly and running a hand through her hair and <em> fuck, </em> Jamie thinks, it looks good today. All she can think is how badly she wants to run her hands through it too, how badly she’s wanted to for such a long time now, what it would feel like to pull Dani close, fingers tangled in that hair, and––</p><p>“Jamie!”</p><p>Yeah, Jamie thinks again, <em> fuck.  </em></p><p>Dani’s voice is loud, louder than usual, and, even across the room from Dani’s stool, Jamie can feel the warmth of her smile.</p><p>Jamie knows Hannah can see it too, knows that Hannah knows immediately, and she doesn’t even bother looking at her, sparing herself the veiled smugness and raised eyebrows, forcing her focus instead into crossing the Manor at a normal pace, offering Dani a quirk of the lips in response.</p><p>Dani cocks her head as she watches Jamie’s saunter, feels her face flush as she watches the way Jamie’s fingers drag along the bar as she walks.</p><p>“Hi,” Dani beams, eyes following Jamie’s fingers all the way down the bar, finally drifting back to Jamie’s face as she sinks down onto the bar next to Dani.</p><p>“Hey,” Jamie offers back simply, grinning at her, “fancy seeing you here.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Dani breathes out, letting her fingers slide along the bar, drawn to Jamie’s bare forearms, “you, uh, come here often?”</p><p>Dani’s pleased with herself at the line, Jamie can see the self-satisfied gleam in her eyes, and she leans in towards Dani, letting her arm brush against Dani’s fingers, leaving it there. She’d meant to tease her back, goad her a bit, maybe, but instead all she can feel are the goosebumps springing up under the tentative touch of Dani’s fingers lighting down her elbow. </p><p>Jamie swallows. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that? Seein' as this is my pub and all,” and Dani’s opening her mouth, fingers stilling, perched, cautious, when––</p><p>“If it’s your pub, how come you’re not behind the bar?” Viola’s voice cuts in wryly from behind Dani.</p><p>Jamie immediately feels her teeth clench, and, taking care not to break the contact between her arm and Dani’s fingers, leans across Dani to scowl at Viola.</p><p>Dani shivers as Jamie’s body brushes wholly against hers, her eyes glued to the woman in front of her, Viola forgotten.</p><p>Before Jamie can say anything, though, Hannah’s swooping in. “Another toddy, Viola?” She glances at Jamie out of the corner of her eye, and Jamie knows she’s not doing herself any favors, not with the way she’s still leaning across––against, if she’s being honest––Dani the way she is.</p><p>“Thank you, Hannah,” Viola sighs, looking sideways at Jamie, “it’s nice to experience <em> some </em> semblance of service around here.”</p><p>“I’ll remember that next time I think about comping you one from the top shelf, your ladyship,” Jamie retorts, inclining her head head towards Viola in a derision of deference.</p><p>(All Dani can focus on are the soft curls tickling her nose as Jamie bows her head, still impossibly close. She ghosts her fingertips along Jamie’s arm, eyelids fluttering as Jamie’s muscles shudder under her touch, wanting nothing more than to pull her close, closer.)</p><p>“Dani?”</p><p>Dani blinks herself away from her thoughts, turning towards the sound of Viola’s voice. “Hmm?”</p><p>“Would you like another drink?”</p><p>“Oh,” Dani’s suddenly aware that Viola, Hannah, and Jamie are all looking at her. “I, uh,” she blinks again, trying to think of anything other than the points of contact between her body and Jamie’s, “I think I–– I’m...”</p><p>“Something stronger, perhaps?”</p><p>Jamie’s laughing before Dani can even think about responding. “Oy, Vi, leave her alone,” and Jamie’s shaking her head now too, but there’s that fondness again, Dani thinks, “she’s just a baby.”</p><p>“Hey!” Dani pulls back, and Jamie flinches at the sudden lack of contact. “I am <em> not </em> a baby!”</p><p>“Your petulance isn’t doing you any favors, Poppins.” It’s a challenge from Jamie, but all Dani can think is that she knows exactly what she wants to do with Jamie’s smirk, her mind torn between a comeback about just how grown she is and the thought of Jamie’s bottom lip between her own.</p><p>“If you ask me,” Hannah’s calm voice cuts through the din in Dani’s head, thoughts of what Jamie could possibly taste like and how badly she wants to know suddenly pushed to the side, “all three of you are acting like children. Now,” she slides Viola another glass mug across the bar, along with a glass of water, “you drink both of these. And you two,” her gaze slides over to Dani and Jamie, finally back and upright against the bar, “didn’t you have something you needed to talk about out back?”</p><p>Dani blinks, confused, but Jamie’s staring back at Hannah evenly, what feels like a full conversation passing between them.</p><p>“That one you told me about earlier?” Hannah continues. “Hmm?”</p><p>Whatever it was between them, Dani thinks, Hannah’s won, but she’s barely had time to dwell on it when she feels Jamie’s arm sliding underneath hers, hand nudging Dani’s into her own and away from the bar, and for all the moments Dani’s thought about exactly this, all she can do is exhale, a nervous giggle escaping at the feeling of Jamie’s hand in hers.</p><p>The corner of Jamie’s mouth curls up in response, murmuring a soft “c’mon,” as she pulls Dani towards the door at the back of the Manor.</p><p>They’re almost to the door when a quiet huff from Viola pulls her back, briefly. Dani glances back at the bar, where Viola’s eyeing the glass of water with a scowl, as if daring it to question her, to criticize her saliency. “I’m serious about what I said, Viola,” she calls back, “about those morning walks to clear your head. You, me. Us. Just think about it!” </p><p>And then Jamie’s pulling her away, out the back door, into the cool air outside.</p><p>Dani’s never noticed the back door of the Manor, hasn’t even realized it has a back patio at all. Its privacy is protected by tall, brick walls on the sides, the windowless tailor’s and cobbler’s clustered tightly around it, and a greenhouse she knows must be Jamie’s lies directly across the way. The only window is directly above the back door, belonging to the flat above the Manor. Whoever lives up there, Dani thinks dumbly as Jamie toes the door shut behind them, must be a regular at the Manor, or at least know what it is. Know who it’s for.</p><p>There’s candlelit lamps waiting, ready on small, square wooden tables, for a light; matching wooden benches frame them neatly, and a weatherproof, padlocked bin for cushions rests along the wall on the tailor’s side. Shrubs––Dani’s not sure what they are, and she makes a vague mental note to ask Jamie later, when she can focus on anything besides Jamie’s hand holding hers and the way her heart feels like it’s about to burst out of her chest––line the rest of the space along the brick walls, carefully wrapped in burlap and circled two, three, four times with twine. There’s Christmas lights draped across the patio, and Jamie’s leaning down, hand tightening around Dani’s in stubborn refusal to let go, as she fumbles for the cord. The light is soft when it finally turns on, and Dani’s breath catches in her throat when Jamie stands again.</p><p>It casts a warm glow over Jamie’s face, highlighting her curls and throwing the angle of her jaw into sharp relief. All Dani wants in that moment, she thinks as she takes her in, is to duck her head, to trace the line of Jamie’s jaw with her lips, to mouth her way towards Jamie’s neck.</p><p>For the first time, it’s just them: no customers, no Viola, no bar. All those moments Dani’s thought about this before, all those hours she’s spent in bed, hung up on what would––what <em> could</em>––happen without a bar between them, all those imagined scenarios that always ended the same, with their limbs tangled together and Jamie’s lips on hers… Dani’s heart is in her throat realizing that after this moment, none of them will matter. That this… Whatever this is about to be, is what she’s been waiting for.</p><p>Her eyes find Jamie’s.</p><p>Jamie drops her hand, swallowing, looking down at her boots before finding Dani’s eyes again. The lights are reflected in them like tiny stars, their cast canonizing Dani, christening her head with a golden halo. Jamie’s never believed in Hannah’s God, never agreed with her on forgiveness, but seeing Dani now, here... Jamie thinks she might be able to understand what Hannah talks about when she talks about grace. </p><p>“What... What did we need to talk about?” Dani feels like her eyes can’t focus, floating from Jamie’s lips to her eyes and back again, over and over.</p><p>Jamie swallows. “Yeah,” she runs a hand through her hair. “Yeah,” she says again, “so it’s been a few weeks now.”</p><p>Dani knows she’s talking about how long it’s been since she started coming to the Manor, knows that’s all it is, but she can’t help but feel like they’re talking about something else. Something more.</p><p>“And I still…” Jamie bites the inside of her cheek, tilting her head to the side to stare at her feet again, thinking. “I still don’t… I don’t know, Dani.”</p><p>Dani takes a step towards Jamie, brow furrowed, hesitating before reaching out, fingers wrapping softly around Jamie’s. “Don’t know what?” she whispers, voice wavering in spite of herself. </p><p>Jamie squeezes her fingers, looking back up at Dani, gaze suddenly hard.</p><p>Dani can feel its weight, can feel Jamie’s eyes boring into her, but she meets her eyes, refusing to look away. Not now, Dani thinks. Not anymore.</p><p>“Do you, Dani?”</p><p>“Do I what?”</p><p>And Jamie finally asks her the question: “Do you know what you want?”</p><p>Dani stares at her. </p><p>Jamie stares back, eyes tracking Dani’s carefully, thumb tracing careful, hopeful circles around Dani’s knuckles.</p><p>Dani doesn’t think, can’t think anymore; instead, she surges forward, crashing her lips against Jamie’s, hands grabbing, desperate, twining themselves in the flannel of Jamie’s overshirt, pulling Jamie tight against her even as she moves forward.</p><p>Jamie gasps against Dani’s lips, stumbling backwards against the wall behind them, hands finding their way to Dani’s face, pulling Dani with her, one hand slipping into her hair, pulling her closer still. </p><p>Kissing Jamie is everything Dani has imagined, a hand untangling itself from Jamie’s overshirt to slip underneath it, up along Jamie’s side and against her back, pulling Jamie flush against her. Dani needs more, needs so much more of Jamie, but Jamie’s pulling away slightly, her forehead resting against Dani’s, breathing heavy. </p><p>“You sure?” she breathes out, and Dani can feel Jamie’s heart beating against hers, with hers, in unison with hers.</p><p>“Yes,” she breathes back, nodding, “please.”</p><p>Dani feels more than sees Jamie’s smile against her own, and Dani’s laugh is swallowed up by another kiss, by Jamie’s lips on her own.</p><p>Both of Jamie’s hands are tangled in Dani’s hair now, and Dani’s hands are roving Jamie’s body, light but so sure, wanting to be everywhere all at once. Jamie arches into her touch, Dani’s tongue swiping across Jamie’s bottom lip. Jamie parts her lips, and Dani’s tongue sweeps softly against hers.</p><p>Jamie doesn’t want to part, wants to stay flush against Dani for the rest of the night at the least, head spinning as she lets it fall back against the cool brick of the wall behind her, catching her breath.</p><p>Dani whimpers at the loss of contact, but before Jamie can even register the sound, Dani’s lips are working their way along her jaw, tongue dragging down the column of her throat.</p><p><em> Harmless flirting</em>, Jamie remembers Hannah saying, breath catching as Dani tugs at Jamie’s tank top, exposing her collarbone to Dani’s eager mouth.</p><p>What Hannah hadn’t known, Jamie thinks, couldn’t have known, was that for Jamie, harmless flirting had never been an option. Not since Dani had showed up in her pub that first day, eyes wide and hair mussed and staring at Jamie like there was no one else in the world. </p><p>“Thank fuck,” Jamie whispers, and then she’s tugging Dani back up, wrapping her arms around her neck, pulling her close, as she kisses her again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Forever thank you to yearinla for reading this over, for her patient (if keymashed) affirmations, and for grounding me from PSN until I got this chapter finished. </p><p>Thank you to you all, too, for reading and for your kind reviews. Thank you all especially for your patience––the end of last week felt like an eternity, and I feel like I'm only now bouncing back to reality. </p><p>I'm hoping to finish and post the final chapter by this weekend, so please stay tuned! In the meantime, you all are welcome to find me over on tumblr at viola-lloyds.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Lady</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me <i>she</i> was the girl,” he reaches into the truck, grabbing for a potted fern.</p><p>“Owen,” Jamie groans, “don’t start.”</p><p>“I mean,” Owen ignores her, hefting the plant out of the truck’s bed, “<i>that’s</i> your ‘bit of a weirdo’ from the pub? Dani?”</p><p>“Owen, please––”</p><p>“Dani Clayton is what’s been…” Owen grins to himself, carrying the plant across the driveway, “<i>ale</i>-ing Bly’s best bartender?”</p><p>“Owen, if you don’t stop, I’m never giving you a bloody lift again.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This fic was originally supposed to be three chapters, then four, and now we're up to five––so thank you all for bearing with me and coming into this little world and staying as it's continued to grow. Thank you all for reading, and for your kind words––I really do appreciate them, and they mean a lot to me!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dani can’t stop thinking about their kiss.</p><p>Doesn’t want to stop thinking about it, intent on reliving it every moment she gets. </p><p>She thinks about it on the walk home, pulling her jacket tighter around her, the way Jamie’s fingers had tightened in her hair as Dani had swept her tongue into Jamie’s mouth, moaning softly. </p><p>She thinks about it trudging up the stairs at the Wingraves’, the way they’d giggled when they finally pulled apart, Dani leaning back in to nuzzle her nose against Jamie’s, heads ducked gently against each other’s, giggles dissipating in the vanishing air between them as Jamie had leaned back in for just one more kiss, murmuring Dani’s name softly against her lips.</p><p>She thinks about it as she slips into bed, pulling her covers up, the way Jamie had strung their fingers together, lifting Dani’s hand to her lips, whispering “I really ought to give Hannah a break,” before the two of them had slipped back into the Manor, fingers still tangled, heads down, smiles giddy. Dani doesn’t know what Hannah or any of the Manor’s other regulars had thought, watching the two of them slink back inside, lips swollen and hair mussed, if they had known their cheeks were flushed from something other than the crisp February air. She doesn’t care, she thinks, pressing her head back into her pillow. All she cares about in that moment is that she can still taste Jamie’s lips on hers, and whether or not Jamie’s reliving every moment of their kiss too, whether or not Jamie’s in bed, her hand slipping under her covers, too.</p><p>“You’re still thinking about it,” Viola accuses the next morning, standing in the middle of the Wingraves’ drive, watching Dani lock the door behind her. She’s not moving, just standing up straight in the middle of the gravel, but Dani can feel the impatience radiating off of her. </p><p>Dani smiles to herself, slipping her key into a pocket. “Good morning to you too, Viola,” she responds blithely, eyes intent on the road directly in front of her.</p><p>Viola purses her lips, but falls into step beside Dani.</p><p>They’re quiet for a minute, walking up the hill outside the Wingraves’, before Viola speaks again. “This is… It? You really just… Walk?”</p><p>Dani peeks at Viola out of the corner of her eye. “Mmhmm,” she breathes out, doing her best to focus her attention on Viola, some corner of her mind still lost along the plane of soft skin on Jamie’s collarbone. “It just… Clears your head a little bit. Helps you feel a little bit less restless.”</p><p>“And is it?” Viola arches an eyebrow at Dani. Her eyes are mischievous, Dani thinks, bright and impossibly sharp without the alcohol, and Dani wonders what kind of person Viola could be, what kind of person she is, without the fog and the rage and the determination to just forget.</p><p>“Is–– Is it what?”</p><p>“Is it clearing your head?” Dani knows what she’s not saying, and Viola knows that Dani knows, too.</p><p>Dani looks sideways at Viola again, sputtering. “I… I don’t… You…” She swallows, shoving her fists into the pockets of her jacket. “I’m pretty sure this is supposed to be about you,” she finally says.</p><p>The ghost of a smile creases Viola’s mouth. “Maybe so,” she shrugs, “but that was before you and Bly’s favorite bartending bachelorette...” she trails off, and Dani’s not sure if she’s leaving it open for suggestion, or if it’s an invitation for Dani to fill in the rest.</p><p>Dani flushes, mind racing back to the feeling of Jamie’s body against hers, the way Jamie had arched and curled into her perfectly, how Dani had still wanted––needed––her closer, how she could feel the heat from Jamie’s skin through her tank top. It makes Dani wonder what it would feel like for Jamie’s bare skin to be pressed against hers, and Dani hasn’t even realized she’s stopped walking until Viola’s grabbing her wrist, laughing, and dragging her forward.</p><p>“You’ve got it that bad, then?” Viola’s laughter is a subdued chuckle now.</p><p>Dani only glares at her benignly.</p><p>“It’s written all over your face, Dani,” Viola shrugs, but there’s mirth in her eyes still. “I don’t need to be in your head to know exactly what’s going on up there. I may be…” Viola pauses, pursing her lips, thoughtful. “I may be miserable, but I lived a life before this, too. I was happy once.”</p><p>Dani’s brow furrows, the two of them coming to a stop along the lake at the end of the drive. “Aw, c’mon Viola,” Dani says, reaching out for one of Viola’s hands. “Give yourself some credit. You’re…” Her eyes flit over Viola’s face quickly, assessing, “thirty…” Dani draws out the word, biting her lip.</p><p>“Thirty-five,” Viola puts her out of her misery, amusement echoed in her dark eyes.</p><p>Dani widens her eyes dramatically. “You’re only thirty-five! It’s not like you’re dead or anything.”</p><p>Viola barks out a laugh. “I’m too stubborn to die, anyway,” she casts her eyes out over the lake. “Too stubborn to die, too stubborn to let myself be anything except miserable.”</p><p>Dani looks at her, realizing suddenly who Viola reminds her of.</p><p>The two of them are quiet for a moment. “And gin helps?” Dani finally asks softly.</p><p>“Gin helps.” Viola glances over at Dani. “Shopping, too.” </p><p>Dani blinks. “Where–– Where is there to shop in Bly?”</p><p>“There’s not,” Viola’s laughing again. “That’s the problem.” </p><p>Dani laughs too, and the two of them are laughing together, doubled over, sharing their mirth as mist rises from the untouched surface of the lake.</p>
<hr/><p>“You know,” Dani ventures as they trek back along the road, taking the turn into town, “if you’ve been happy before, you could be happy again, don’t you think?”</p><p>Viola doesn’t say anything, just walks, mud from their detour to the lake softening the sound of her steps on the concrete.</p><p>“It feels impossible,” she finally says. Dani glances back up at her. “It’s...  It’s my <em> daughter</em>, Dani,” and when Viola’s voice cracks, Dani feels something in her shatter, too.</p><p>“I…” Dani frowns, crease between her brows deepening as she runs a hand through her hair, searching for the right words. “I don’t… Talk to my mom. And I know,” she adds quickly, “I know it’s not the same. But it’s adjacent? Somehow, and…” Dani’s breath hitches, but she forces herself to continue. “Nothing is ever going to replace your daughter. Nothing. But, I think…” She breathes in slowly, carefully, “I think we can find people. And they won’t… They won’t replace the holes, the ones that are there, but they can… They can build new branches,” her fingers toy with the zipper on her hoodie, “plant new trees.”</p><p>Viola chuckles, but it’s empty, a deflection. “You know how I can tell you’ve been spending too much time with our Jamie?”</p><p>Dani rolls her eyes, exasperated, giving her a look. “Just think about it,” she says. “It’s… Rebuilding. Rebuilding rather than replacing. And just… Just because you don’t <em> have </em> your daughter, it doesn’t mean you can’t still love her. They’re... Opposites, really,” and she stops, thinking, and watches Viola’s face for a moment before continuing, “love and ownership. Maybe this… This misery,” she says it carefully, choosing Viola’s word for it rather than her own, “maybe that’s the ultimate act of love.”</p><p>Viola just stares back at her, face smooth, unreadable. </p><p>Dani bites her lip. </p><p>And then Viola turns, wordlessly, to walk Dani back to the Wingraves’.</p>
<hr/><p>They’re quiet the rest of the way back, retracing their muddy footprints to the corner, this time taking the turn towards the Wingrave house.</p><p>Dani would be worried she’s said too much, that she’s pushed Viola out, but there’s a strange serenity that’s settled around Viola. It’s not the feigned indifference or the performative annoyance Dani’s seen from her before; instead, Dani thinks, it feels something like peace. Restfulness in spite of her restlessness. Dani smiles to herself, allowing herself a moment of smug satisfaction, when––</p><p>They’re both stopping suddenly, together, staring at the drive half a block down.</p><p>The smug satisfaction is Viola’s now, Dani’s eyes going wide and her mouth suddenly dry as Viola starts laughing next to her. </p><p>It all comes rushing back to Dani: Jamie’s lips, Jamie’s hands, Jamie’s <em> tongue–– </em>Jamie standing in the middle of the Wingraves’ driveway next to her truck, squinting up at them, hand shading her eyes against the rising sun, grinning and waving at the two of them. </p><p>“So much for clearing your head, hmm?” Viola’s hand slides over Dani’s shoulder, and she squeezes. “Thanks for the laughs this morning,” Viola pulls away, eyes sparkling. “Good to know I’m not too stubborn for that, at least.”</p><p>Dani tears her eyes away from Jamie to look at Viola, unable to leave well enough alone. “And–– And the rest of it?”</p><p>Viola raises her eyebrows, and it’s the first time Dani thinks she’s ever seen her curated veneer slip. “Audacity is a good look on you, Dani Clayton,” she says, tempering the surprise from her voice. “Keep it up. Especially with our friend down there,” she nods towards Jamie before turning to walk back towards her home. “And…” she pauses, glancing back over her shoulder at Dani. “A word of advice? From someone who’s been happy before. Take it one day at a time. Don’t waste away what you have worrying about what may or may not come next.” She shrugs. “That’s what I would do, anyway. If I were you,” Viola’s dark eyes glint in the morning sun, and then she’s turning, rounding the corner, and she’s gone.</p><p>Dani turns back towards the Wingraves’, where Jamie’s still standing, eyes shielded, watching. She swallows, nodding to herself, and starts walking.</p><p>Jamie watches her the whole way, smile broadening the closer Dani gets.</p><p>“Dani Clayton,” she’s grinning now, couldn’t contain it if she tried. “You, uh, come here often?”</p><p>“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” Dani parrots back softly, stepping in towards Jamie, fingers wrapping around her hand, thumb grazing the inside of her palm, “seeing as it’s my…”</p><p>She trails off, eyes drifting to Jamie’s lips, too distracted to finish as Jamie leans in, brushing her lips against Dani’s quickly, gingerly, before pulling away. Jamie swallows, glancing around. “Sorry,” she clears her throat, “I, uh––”</p><p>Dani just shakes her head, pulling on Jamie’s hand, tugging Jamie back in towards her. No one is ever out this early, she knows, no one except for her and now Viola, who’s long enough departed. Dani kisses Jamie back, taking her time, hand sliding up Jamie’s arm, tugging her closer. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about–– About last night,” Dani murmurs against her lips, “about you. Us.”</p><p>She feels more than hears the noise Jamie makes, soft and higher pitched than Dani thinks she would have expected. Expected until last night, anyway, she adds to herself, smiling widely against Jamie’s lips.</p><p>“Easy, Poppins,” Jamie whispers back, but her hand slides under Dani’s jacket, under her unzipped hoodie, Dani shivering despite the warmth she feels from Jamie’s touch, even through her t-shirt.</p><p>Dani breathes a laugh into Jamie’s mouth, squeezing her arm tightly before pulling away. “Yeah,” she licks her lips, catching her breath. “Yeah, right.”</p><p>They’re still staring at each other, Jamie’s eyes bright, Dani’s wide and wanting, their fingers still tangled together, Dani’s thumb dragging up and down Jamie’s palm.</p><p>It’s the sound of a cough that jolts them apart, Owen coming out the front door, mustache twitching as the corner of his mouth turns up in a small smile. “Morning Dani,” he chirps, making his way over to Jamie’s truck, “Jamie was just asking if I thought we’d see you.”</p><p>Jamie’s lips press together. “Owen!” she hisses. </p><p>Dani feels the blush spreading across her face, and looks down at her shoes, concentrating on the neat ties of her white laces, before glancing back up nervously. “I should–– I should go get Miles and Flora up,” she allows herself a quick glance at Jamie, a small smile, and then she’s hurrying inside, fists clenched and jaw tight, determined to think of anything besides Jamie’s hand sliding against her stomach.</p><p>Jamie rounds on Owen. “You twat,” she swats at his arm, but he only grins.</p><p>“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me <em> she </em> was the girl,” he reaches into the truck, grabbing for a potted fern.</p><p>“Owen,” Jamie groans, “don’t start.”</p><p>“I mean,” Owen ignores her, hefting the plant out of the truck’s bed, “<em>that’s </em>your ‘bit of a weirdo’ from the pub? Dani?”</p><p>“Owen, please––”</p><p>“Dani Clayton is what’s been…” Owen grins to himself, carrying the plant across the driveway, “<em> ale-</em>ing Bly’s best bartender?”</p><p>“Owen, if you don’t stop, I’m never giving you a bloody lift again.”</p><p>Owen sets the fern down by the door, ignoring her. “Hannah wouldn’t say who, just told me last night you had it bad, but my God, Jamie.” He crosses back over to her, face softening. “It’s nice to see you like this, you know,” Owen’s voice is quiet, “letting yourself be happy.”</p><p>Jamie bites the inside of her cheek, staring up at him. She can’t quip herself out of this one, can’t cross her arms and refuse to engage anymore. She’s not sure she even wants to.</p><p>“It…” Jamie’s voice is hoarse when it comes out. “It feels good. It feels good, Owen.” If her eyes are glassy, he doesn’t say anything. She’s grateful he gives her that.</p><p>Owen squeezes her shoulder gently, giving her the moment before nodding at the fern. “You want to take that the rest of the way? I’m sure Flora and Miles would love to see you.”</p><p>He doesn’t say the rest, doesn’t need to.</p><p>Jamie nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that. Thanks Owen.” She offers him a smile.</p><p>He smiles back, wordlessly, rushing ahead of her to hold open the door.</p><p>Jamie hears Dani immediately, a panicked “Flora!” echoing from the kitchen, followed by relieved laughter. She follows the sound, smiling to herself, arms tightening around the fern as she goes.</p><p>Dani’s chasing Flora around the kitchen, Flora giggling uncontrollably, Miles taking the opportunity to inundate his pancakes with syrup.</p><p>Jamie leans against the doorframe, watching, smiling softly. Dani’s cheeks are still flushed, her smile wide as she circles the table, pausing, changing directions as Flora squeals. It’s a new element for Dani, different than the Manor, different, Jamie thinks, suddenly warm, than the patio there, than Dani’s body pressed against Jamie’s, Dani’s lips traversing her neck. It’s seeing Dani in <em> her </em> element, and Jamie finds herself wondering if this is how it had felt for Dani that first day, watching Jamie from across the bar, eyes wide and wanting even from the beginning.</p><p>People, Jamie’s always thought, aren’t worth it. It’s why she’s always preferred plants; they make sense to her, ground her. You get out of them exactly what you put into them––thought, effort, even love––and never less. With plants, you don’t risk the loss, don’t risk pouring your whole self into them only for your return to be some kind of half-life, love multiplied by a rate of decay, forced into something hard and twisted and compact by the pressure. Plants don’t leave you with that. Plants don’t leave you motherless, fatherless, brotherless. Plants, Jamie thinks, don’t leave you at all. </p><p>That’s why she’s always preferred plants to people.</p><p>Seeing Dani here though, like this, laughing with Flora and Miles, sharing breakfast in their kitchen, Jamie looking on… It unearths something in Jamie, something she’d locked away a long time ago. Something she’d forced herself to forget about, something she’d buried, crushed, deep down in the dirt. Something that’s rising back up.</p><p>Jamie swallows thickly, clearing her throat. </p><p>Dani jumps, eyes wide, finding Jamie and flitting up and down, taking in her figure.</p><p>Jamie chuckles, letting Dani’s eyes rake over her, ducking her head. “I, uh…” She offers up the potted fern. “Brought this over for you gremlins,” she glances at Flora and Miles. “Thought you all could use some more green in this kitchen.”</p><p>Jamie can feel Dani’s eyes on her as she crosses into the kitchen, can feel them following her as she settles the fern in a shaded niche alongside a counter, Jamie’s eyes narrowing as she peers up at the ceiling. “I’ll have to drill in a hook for you all,” she slides her hands into her back pockets, thoughtful. “Maybe I could come back tomorrow?” she glances over at Dani.</p><p>“That–– That could work,” Dani nods. “Maybe–– Maybe you could come back tomorrow morning and, uh,” Dani shrugs a little, voice earnest, “maybe you could have breakfast with us. We’d like that, right kids?”</p><p>Flora nods, eager.</p><p>“I’d like to see you in the morning,” Jamie says easily, carefully, eyes locked on Dani’s as she leans back against the counter, “would like some breakfast.”</p><p>Miles looks up at them, curious, over his pancakes. “How do you two know each other?”</p><p>Dani blanches. “We… We, uh… Jamie and I––”</p><p>“Have a mutual friend,” Owen announces, strolling into the kitchen and wiping his hands on the front of his jeans. “Dani,” he adds, glancing over at her as he pulls his apron on, “I bet Jamie could fix that thing you were telling me about. You want to show it to her?” </p><p>Dani blinks at him, and he jerks his head towards the door. “Go on. I’ve got things under control here.”</p><p>Jamie doesn’t wait for Owen to tell them again, pushing off the counter behind her and slipping out of the kitchen, fingers grazing Dani’s wrist as she passes. Dani shivers, quick to follow, and the last thing they hear is Owen’s “now who wants more pancakes?” before Dani’s up the stairs and through her bedroom door, Jamie close behind her. </p><p>“Look, Dani, about last night,” Jamie glances around Dani’s room, Dani locking the door behind them with a soft click, “I… I wanted to––”</p><p>But Dani’s already kissing her again, hands everywhere at once, tugging at Jamie’s jacket, pulling Jamie’s arms around her, sliding against Jamie's chest. </p><p>It’s easy, Jamie thinks, one hand squeezing Dani’s waist, the other sliding up to cup Dani’s cheek as she returns the kiss, it’s so damn easy with Dani.</p><p>“Sorry,” Dani mumbles against Jamie’s lips, “you were gonna say something, but…” Dani doesn’t stop kissing her though, and it’s hurried and frantic––Owen’s bought them some time, she knows, but she’s pretty sure she’s seen Miles swallow pancakes whole before––and her hands are pushing at Jamie’s jacket now, pushing it off of her shoulders and down her arms and onto the floor.</p><p>“I wanted,” Jamie doesn’t stop kissing her back either, gasping when Dani’s teeth tug gently at her bottom lip, “I wanted to tell you––” She tangles her hands in the bottom of Dani’s t-shirt, wondering distantly when she had pulled it out from where it was tucked neatly into Dani’s jeans. </p><p>“Mmhmm?” Dani breathes into their kiss, arms wrapping around Jamie’s waist, pulling Jamie into her, fingertips digging into her lower back.</p><p>“Fuck, Dani,” Jamie forces herself to pull away, to catch her breath, reaching around her back to grab Dani’s hands, holding them steady.</p><p>Dani raises her eyebrows, breaths equally heavy. Jamie’s dimly aware of Dani’s thumbs stroking her knuckles, and she wonders if Dani even realizes the habit.</p><p>Jamie bites her lip, watching Dani’s face, taking in the arch of her eyebrows (nervous, hopeful), the soft part of her lips (need to be kissed, by Jamie, immediately), the eager vulnerability in her wide eyes. “Fuck it,” she whispers, then: “I like you, Dani Clayton. I really fuckin’ like you, and I… Don’t like people.” Jamie ducks her head on instinct, then forces herself to look back up, eyes locking back onto Dani’s. “I don’t like people, but….” Jamie’s looking for the words now, biting her lip. She squeezes Dani’s hands, hoping her touch can convey what her words can’t. “You’re worth it,” she finally says, and her voice is rough, rougher than she’d hoped, but she sees Dani’s eyes soften, sees the recognition there, and so she says it again. “You’re worth it.”</p><p>It’s a whisper this time, and Dani can’t take it anymore, can’t just stand there and watch whatever wall is there inside Jamie crumble. “Jamie,” she whispers back, and then her thumbs are stroking Jamie’s cheeks, pulling her back in for another kiss.</p><p>It’s softer than the others, but surer, Dani pulling Jamie close, and Jamie’s smiling as she kisses her back, smiling wider than Dani thinks she ever has. “Jamie,” Dani whispers again, face stretching into a smile of her own, and then Jamie’s kissing her harder, hands knotting in Dani’s t-shirt and pulling Dani’s body flush against hers.</p><p>Dani moans, her tongue sweeping into Jamie’s mouth, and her free hand is drifting down, towards the hem of Jamie’s shirt, slipping up, underneath, against warm, toned skin, when––</p><p>“Hey you two,” Owen’s calling from downstairs, “last call for pancakes, yeah? We seem to have some particularly hungry gremlins––” and then he’s laughing, overtaken by Miles and Flora and their syrup-coated hands.</p><p>Dani groans, pulling away with a pout, but Jamie just laughs. “Was gonna happen eventually, Poppins,” she says, untangling herself from Dani, pausing, leaning back in to kiss her before crossing to the door. “I’ll see you at the Manor later, yeah?”</p><p>Dani grabs her hand, stopping her before she can slip out. “I… I meant what I said,” she says lowly, blue eyes dark, “earlier, when I said I’d… I’d like you to be here in the morning.” </p><p>Jamie stares back at her, heat pooling at the bottom of her stomach. “I meant it too,” she finally says, hand squeezing Dani’s, eyes not leaving hers. “So I’ll see you at the Manor later, yeah?”</p><p>And then she’s gone.</p><p>Dani slumps back against her bed, letting out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding, hand reaching up to rake through her hair. </p><p>
  <em> One day at a time. </em>
</p><p>One day, Dani thinks, plus breakfast.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all again for reading! I'm hoping to have the final chapter up by early next week, but in the meantime, you can find me on tumblr at viola-lloyds.</p><p>Thank you too, always, to yearinla for reading this over, and for her tireless patience with my tireless questions.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Regular</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Upstairs,” Jamie swallows, “there’s a flat. My flat,” she watches Dani closely, eyes searching. “Figured… If you want, anyway, we might… Have a drink up there.”</p><p>Jamie’s voice is steady, her thumb sure, stroking Dani’s cheek as she talks, but that wall, that guardedness, is gone. Dani can see it in Jamie’s eyes, can see the vulnerability there, knows she wants Dani to stay––needs Dani to stay––just as badly as Dani needs it herself. </p><p>“I’d like that,” Dani whispers.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Dani visits the Manor now, it feels like home.</p><p>She’s been in Bly a month now, been a regular––she smiles softly to herself at the word, can feel the warmth seeping into her, at <em> belonging </em> to something, to a community of people in whom she can share herself and who can, in turn, share themselves with her––at the Manor three weeks now. She belongs to the Manor; belongs to the Wingraves too, laughing across the dinner table at the mashed potatoes pressed to Miles’ cheek, wiping soap, mingled with tears, from Flora’s eyes after a bubble gnome attempt gone wrong, meeting Owen’s terrible puns with her own, worse ones; belongs–– </p><p>It’s like she’d said to Viola, Dani muses. They <em> are </em> opposites, love and ownership, but belonging… Belonging is a choice, hovering, as if in limbo, at the intersection of the two. Belonging can’t be one-sided, not like love or ownership, and it’s more than seeing herself, Dani knows now, or even seeing anyone else. It requires vulnerability, consent. It’s that commitment someone makes to baring themself, and it’s that recognition, that pang in Dani’s chest, that resonance, that feeling that, suddenly, she wasn’t alone anymore; that maybe she never was. That she has someone with whom she could burn away her shadows, whatever they may be.</p><p>It’s that feeling she gets, tucking in Flora and Miles, gently pushing Miles’ hair back and out of his eyes, tucking Flora’s behind her ears, helping her check on each and every one of her dolls, making sure they’re safe, secure in their beds, so that Flora too can sleep. Letting her know nothing bad will happen to them while she does. Assuring Miles that it’s okay, what he’s feeling. That she had to grow up a little faster, too.</p><p>It’s that feeling she gets with Viola, their own jagged pieces, so scarred over, heavy and sunken and coalifying under the pressure of neglect and determination and somehow, still, love, matching the other’s, a near-perfect mirror image. It’s the two of them, staring out over the lake every morning, the watery blue of Dani’s eyes and the boundless depths of Viola’s brown, searching for something. It’s the two of them laughing, finally, Dani’s hand finding Viola’s, the sound of their shared catharsis echoing off the smooth surface of the lake, glassy and uninterrupted, tucked away peacefully under its blanket of pre-dawn fog.</p><p>It’s that feeling she’d had that first day at the Manor, settling near a small green thing yet to bloom, watching Jamie stubbornly scrub at a glass in spite of herself. It’s that feeling she’s had every moment since, watching Jamie do everything she can in the face of futility: run a lesbian bar in one of the smallest, nosiest town’s Dani’s ever found herself (a feat, all things considered, given Dani’s Midwestern upbringing); pack that bar, stuffy and cramped and with the occasional waft of cigarette smoke, full of living, breathing plants; kiss the woman who spent so much of her life unsure of who she was, where she was, what she wanted; decide that woman was worth it.</p><p>It’s that feeling of watching Jamie do everything she can in the face of futility, and, somehow, seeing a leafling rise up out of that improbability and begin to flower.</p><p>That’s what belonging is. It’s all of those feelings at once, and being brave enough, finally, to let herself feel them. It’s letting someone in, Dani thinks, inviting someone into herself, and the invitation being accepted.</p><p>Dani feels it even when she stands outside the Manor now, taking it in. The tailor’s and the cobbler’s shops are dark, shuttered for the night, but the Manor is warm, and Dani takes a moment, hovering just above the steps down to the entrance, basking in the warm glow from its windows. </p><p>Entering the Manor is different tonight, loaded again, but Dani’s different now, too.</p><p>She takes a deep breath and cracks open the door, slipping inside, keeping as much of the cold out as possible.</p><p>It feels like home, and Dani finds herself smiling as she casts around for an open seat. Rebecca’s back, she notes, holding court mid-bar, fingers draped around a gimlet, laughing at something the woman next to her is saying. There’s the doctor and the soldier, framing their booth as ever, hunched in towards each other, statuesque and quiet, the doctor glancing up to nod at her briefly. Dani returns the nod, pausing, blinking when she notices that there are carnations now, too, dotting the shelves with wine and white and red blooms, and she wonders when Jamie’s even had time to do it. It’s a lot of… Color for Jamie, and Dani tugs the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth thoughtfully, tracing them across the Manor, around its snug corners and back to the bar.</p><p>Back to Jamie, smiling softly over at her from the bar’s sink, glass and towel in her hands all but forgotten.</p><p>They stay like that, Dani, framed by the doorway, head tilted and eyes soft, and Jamie, all the air in the room evaporated save for the quiet breaths passing between them.</p><p>It feels like an eternity before Dani’s sinking down onto her stool, the one she’d claimed for herself that first day, Jamie meeting her there, hesitating, breath hitching as she slides a hand across the bar to run her fingers cautiously over Dani’s. Dani follows her movements carefully, squeezing Jamie’s fingers as Jamie tangles theirs together–– But it’s brief, Jamie glancing over her shoulder and pulling away with a crinkle of her nose.</p><p>“Vi’s not gonna let us hear the end of it,” she explains quickly, glancing back at Dani. “Got an earful when she first came in, too. Something about,” Jamie’s eyes glint playfully, and Dani swallows, suddenly nervous, “me breaking you?” Jamie leans in, lowering her voice, arching an eyebrow. “Did I… Break you, Poppins?”</p><p>“I–– Wha–– Where…” Dani’s looking anywhere but at Jamie, can feel the heat rising in her face, concentrating instead on Viola’s usual spot at the opposite end of the bar, currently empty. “She’s not even… She’s not even here, how could she…”</p><p>And then Dani sees her. She’d missed her before, Viola’s back to her, just a curtain of dark curls next to Rebecca. </p><p>“Whatever you said to her this morning,” Jamie’s back to her regular tone now, light, conversational, “really did a number on her. She’s drinking less––for her, anyway,” Jamie adds, “and I just heard her tell a joke. Viola Lloyd has been coming here since I opened, perfectly content to drown herself in a cocktail of misery and gin, and you,” her eyes snap back to Dani, “have her telling bloody jokes.”</p><p>Dani shrugs, but her nonchalance is belied by a grin. “I told you,” she says, “a little empathy could help.”</p><p>Jamie narrows her eyes at her, daring to lean in, her lips quirked up. “You’re being smug, Dani Clayton.”</p><p>“Am I?” Dani raises her eyebrows at Jamie mildly, but her tone is playful, challenging. </p><p>Jamie purses her lips at her, humming softly as she leans in closer, acutely aware of the way Dani’s eyes drop to her mouth. “You are,” she glances around, content that the Manor’s patrons are engrossed enough in themselves, in each other, before her eyes settle back on Dani’s, “and I’m afraid there are consequences for smug in my pub.” </p><p>Dani’s laugh is nervous, loud, and she’s glancing around too, biting her lip as she turns back to Jamie, eyelids heavy. “You’re the only one who’s allowed to be smug in here, huh?”</p><p>Jamie pauses, chin jutting out and head falling to the side in mock thought. “Me and the plants,” she says with finality, “mostly just the roses, now they’re here. I couldn’t tell them no even if I wanted to.” </p><p>Dani laughs, following Jamie’s gaze to the roses resting on the tables across the bar. “They’re beautiful,” she flushes slightly. “I didn’t get the chance to tell you last night, but…” Her eyes float back to Jamie, who’s watching her now, gaze careful, delicate.</p><p>“Why’d you put out roses, anyway?” Dani swallows, blinking, forcing her eyes away from Jamie’s lest she start to lose herself in the night before. Somewhere in the back of her head, she curses Viola silently. </p><p>“Jesus,” Jamie leans back, running a hand through her hair and glancing back down the bar again. “Everyone and these fucking roses…”</p><p>Dani can see the quiet flush forming across the bridge of her nose and laughs, taking pity on her. “Okay, okay. I won’t ask about the roses. Scout’s honor.” </p><p>Jamie glances back at her out of the corner of her eye.</p><p>“But can I ask you one thing?” Dani leans in, furtive, Jamie raising her eyebrows in acquiescence. “What was the joke?” </p><p>Jamie’s brow only furrows.</p><p>“Vi’s joke,” Dani elaborates. “What was it?” </p><p>Jamie laughs, relieved, leaning in to rest her forearms on the bar. “I was asking Rebecca if she and that twat Peter Quint were done for real this time, if she’d ever consider leaving us, getting back on her barrister track properly, in London.”</p><p>Dani nods.</p><p>“And Vi, she just starts laughing. And when I turn to her, ask her what’s so funny, she just looks at Rebecca and says that if she needs it, she’ll just”––Jamie drags a thumb across her throat, making a choking sound––“Peter Quint for her. Said it completely deadpan. Wouldn’t have known it was a joke if she hadn’t clarified it after,” she adds, shrugging, “but it made Rebecca laugh, so... “ Jamie shakes her head. “Morbid sense of humor, those two.”</p><p>Dani laughs, nodding. “At least they have that,” she pulls her eyes away from the two women, looking back at Jamie. “It’s good to have someone.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Jamie swallows. “Yeah, it is.” She’s quiet for a moment, then: “what can I get you?”</p><p>Dani’s face breaks into a wide grin. “I thought you’d never ask.”</p>
<hr/><p>Business at the Manor picks up after that, the rest of the night passing in a blur, Dani nursing a bottle of Jamie’s favorite, sipping as she watches Jamie lazily from across the bar. Customers come and go, the doctor and the soldier making their exit early, Rebecca and Viola laughing together well into the night, swapping gimlets for seltzers for gin and tonics. Hannah stops by at one point, dropping off Owen’s latest experiment in pastry, eyes twinkling as they light on Dani at the end of the bar, Dani lost in Jamie’s lips as Jamie bites into flakey crust. Somewhere along the way, Jamie announces last call––Dani finds herself wondering if it could be so late already, if she had lost that much time, content to watch Jamie in her element, smiling as she watches Jamie caretaking in her own, if occasionally brusque, way––and then even Rebecca and Viola are standing up, gathering their coats. </p><p>They’re on their way out when Viola catches Dani’s eye, and Dani’s grinning, relieved, at the clarity she sees there. Clarity, she thinks, and something else, too, but then Viola’s nodding her head towards Jamie, diligently cleaning glasses at the other end of the bar. Dani lets her gaze follow, lingering on Jamie, on the soft flex in her forearms as she towels off the glasses, and when Dani turns back to Viola, Viola’s halfway out the door, hand bracing Rebecca’s back gently. Dani narrows her eyes, but Viola only laughs, and, throwing Dani a last wink over her shoulder, sinks back into the dark outside.</p><p>The door swings quietly shut behind them, and Dani and Jamie are alone.</p><p>Jamie doesn’t look up; instead, she keeps at her glasses, and Dani would think Jamie doesn’t even realize they’re alone. Would think, that is, if not for the way the corner of Jamie’s mouth quirks up as the door closes, fingers flexing against the glass in her hand.</p><p>Dani watches her for a minute, quiet, before she finally takes a deep breath. “Hey,” she says, and her voice wavers, but she plows ahead anyway, “what’s a girl gotta do to get some service around here?”</p><p>Jamie looks up at her then, eyebrows raised, amused, lips parting as she lowers the glass in her hands.</p><p>Dani raises her eyebrows back in response, pressing her lips together, leaning across the bar expectantly. </p><p>“Y’know,” Jamie settles the glass upside down on a towel to dry, crossing back over to Dani––too slowly for Dani, painfully slowly, but Jamie’s dragging her fingers across the shiny wood again and Dani’s transfixed, “last call was a while ago. Should’ve ordered then, if there was anything you wanted.”</p><p>Dani huffs through her nose, biting down on her lip, forcing her eyes up to Jamie’s. “Can’t you make an exception?”</p><p>Jamie purses her lips. “I could,” she’s across from Dani now, leaning down and against the cool wood of the bar towards her, and she’s so close and still so far at the same time, “or…”</p><p>“Or…” Dani breathes out, eyes on Jamie’s lips.</p><p>Dani’s not expecting it when she feels Jamie’s fingertips dusting her jaw, light, gently tipping Dani’s head upward to look her in the eyes, Dani’s breath catching in her throat.</p><p>“Upstairs,” Jamie swallows, “there’s a flat. My flat,” she watches Dani closely, eyes searching. “Figured… If you want, anyway, we might… Have a drink up there.”</p><p>Jamie’s voice is steady, her thumb sure, stroking Dani’s cheek as she talks, but that guardedness is gone. Dani can see it in Jamie’s eyes, can see the vulnerability there, knows she wants Dani to stay––needs Dani to stay––just as badly as Dani needs it herself. </p><p>“I’d like that,” Dani whispers.</p><p>The two of them are quiet again, the pad of Jamie’s thumb soft against Dani’s cheek, staring at each other.</p><p>Eventually, though, Jamie’s pulling away. “Okay,” she says, “right then. Let me just…” </p><p>Dani watches her, hanging on Jamie’s every movement as Jamie crosses the Manor to lock the door, then makes her way back to the bar, grabbing a towel to finish wiping it down, glancing around as she does, eyes scanning for any mess she’s missed. </p><p>“What can I do?” Dani asks.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“What can I do? To help you close up?”</p><p>Jamie just stares at her, brow furrowed softly.</p><p>“Any… Watering emergencies?” Dani tries, eyes mischievous in the flickering glow from the candles on the bar.</p><p>Jamie laughs, almost to herself, shaking her head. “Yeah, uh,” she waves a hand at the booths, “get the roses some fresh water? You can use this sink here,” she sidesteps from where she’s at the register now, counting out bills. </p><p>Dani grins, and when she crosses behind the bar, vases in hand, it feels like she’s crossing an invisible boundary, that Jamie’s let her in somewhere new, somewhere sacred. She takes it in as she walks to the sink at the other end, the neatness of it all, the order, the sprouts Jamie has, hidden, all throughout the nooks and crannies underneath the bar. </p><p>Dani lets her arm graze Jamie’s as she reaches the sink, busying herself with the faucet. Jamie leans into the contact, breathing in deeply, and the two of them are quiet as they work. It feels… Domestic. Comfortable. Dani rests the freshly-filled vases on the bar in front of her.</p><p>Yeah, she thinks. It feels like home.</p><p>Jamie’s closing the register drawer when she feels the brush of Dani’s arm, Dani turning around behind her. There’s a pause, Jamie can sense the hesitation, and then Dani’s arms are wrapping around Jamie’s middle, her fingers splayed out across Jamie’s sternum, pulling her close, and Dani’s pressing her face into Jamie’s shoulder, inhaling deeply. </p><p>Jamie doesn’t say anything, only closes her eyes and sighs, leaning back into Dani, Jamie’s hands finding hers to thread their fingers together. “Dani…” she whispers.</p><p>“Mmhmm?” It’s smothered, breathed into the flannel of Jamie’s shirt, but it’s immediate, eager. </p><p>“Let’s go upstairs, yeah?”</p><p>Jamie feels Dani nod, feels the press of Dani’s fingers against her skin through her shirt. She stays there a moment longer, savoring the feeling, and then she’s extricating herself from Dani’s arms, rethreading their fingers to tug her towards a door at the back of the Manor. They slip through, Jamie flicking a switch on the wall, and everything fades to black behind them.</p>
<hr/><p>Jamie holds true to her promise of making Dani another drink.</p><p>They’re on the couch, deep green and overstuffed, Jamie’s legs splayed out in front of her, Dani’s knees tucked neatly under her, settled just alongside Jamie, free hand resting on the back of the couch behind them, absently twirling one of Jamie’s curls around a finger.</p><p>Jamie finds herself wondering again if Dani even realizes she does it, if she realizes just how often her touch, delicate and sure, finds its way to Jamie, if she realizes the way she seeks her out, needing, drawn to her as if to a magnet.</p><p>Jamie’s never felt wanted before. Not like this.</p><p>Dani tilts her glass to her lips, taking a drink, eyes not leaving Jamie’s, who stares thoughtfully back.</p><p>Dani narrows her eyes, and Jamie blinks. </p><p>“You never answered my question,” Dani says, and when Jamie only cocks her head, questioning, Dani sighs, leaning forward to rest her glass on a coaster on the table in front of them. “What about you?”</p><p>“What about me what?” </p><p>“I… I asked you, a long time ago,” Dani watches Jamie closely as Jamie leans forward too, resting her glass beside Dani’s, “after you told me about Vi, Rebecca, everyone. And I’ve… I’ve told you about me”––Dani has, story coming out in bits and pieces for Jamie to stitch together over the last three weeks, about her father, her mother, her former fiancé––“so now it’s your turn. What about you?”</p><p>Jamie’s quiet for a minute, staring at her hands in her lap, and when she looks back up at Dani, Jamie’s eyes are glassy.</p><p>No, she’s never felt wanted like this before.</p><p>And so Jamie tells her. Jamie tells her all of it, staring, focused, at her hands in her lap, starting with Louise and Dennis. Dani’s quiet, patient, and even though Jamie can feel her leaning forward, can feel Dani’s breath against her cheek, Jamie refuses to look at her. Refuses to give herself the chance to stop, to find whatever solace she’s looking for in Dani’s eyes and take it as enough, refuses to let herself settle for giving Dani Clayton anything less than her whole self. </p><p>That’s all she wants, really. To give Dani her whole self. To pour all the love, all the effort, all the nourishment she’s been holding onto, that she’s been holding back her whole life, that’s been filling up and up and up inside her without an outlet, threatening to overflow. Jamie’s been terrified of it, terrified of drowning in an inundation of love she’s ashamed to feel, ashamed to carry, ashamed to give to anyone, because she knows, just knows, they could never love her back so much. No one ever has. </p><p><em> But here’s Dani Clayton, </em> she had thought all those weeks ago, <em> and she isn’t one of them</em>.</p><p>Jamie had meant it, what she’d said to Dani that morning. Dani’s worth it.</p><p>“I built this place,” Jamie’s talking about the Manor now, eyes brimming, knuckles white in her lap, “built it myself, with my bare hands. People… People like us…” she swallows. “I know what it’s like, to not have a family. To not have <em> people</em>. And I don’t think that’s something anyone should have to deal with. It’s not, Dani,” and Jamie finally looks up at her, Dani’s eyes glassy too, hanging on Jamie’s every word. “Rebecca… Needs a place to be herself away from her piece of shit boyfriend, needs people to push her, to speak to what she needs, Vi… Needs to cry or mope or feel sorry for herself or,” she chokes out a laugh, “needs someone to give her <em> empathy</em>, someone who she can crack her bloody jokes with. The... Doctor, the soldier, they just want a place to be, a place to be, together, without having to worry about all the noise outside, and you… You…”</p><p>She’s crying now, and Dani, who’s been so patient, watching, listening, so desperate for Jamie’s every word, is finally reaching out, finally touching her, thumbs brushing the tears away from Jamie’s cheeks. “Jamie,” she whispers, and Jamie thinks it sounds like a prayer. </p><p>Jamie looks up at her, and Dani leans in slowly, pressing her lips to Jamie’s cheek. “You said earlier you… Don’t like people,” her lips brush against Jamie’s skin, still whispering as she kisses the tracks of Jamie’s tears. “But…” Dani’s careful here, so careful with her words, turning Jamie’s other cheek, kissing it now, “You do. I see it. You have so much love to give,” she kisses the tip of Jamie’s nose, lips ghosting upwards along its ridge, settling between Jamie’s brows. “And you–– You hold it so close, Jamie,” her lips traverse the arch of Jamie’s brow, pressing against a temple, “but it leaks out sometimes. With Viola,” Dani drags her lips down Jamie’s jaw, catching a stray tear, “with Owen, with the kids. With––” Dani’s voice catches, and she pauses, suddenly unsure, before she’s shaking her head, leaning back in to brush her lips to the corner of Jamie’s mouth. Her voice is even quieter. “It feels… It feels like you don’t think you deserve love,” Dani stutters through the word, but she means it, commits to it, in whatever form it may take, “but you do.” Her lips find Jamie’s, and she murmurs. “You really do.” </p><p>Dani’s pulling away too soon, sniffing and running a hand through her hair, suddenly nervous. “I–– I just… What I mean to say is… You have some–– Some great people here to choose for your family,” she explains, voice back to its normal pitch, wavering slightly, “if you want to.” </p><p>It’s inevitability, Jamie realizes then, the reason Dani’s fingers are always finding their way to Jamie’s skin. Jamie had set it into motion the second she’d opened herself up to Dani, the second she’d shared a piece of herself as simple as her favorite ale, offered Dani an invitation that she’d accepted time and time again, easily, happily. It’s all the love Jamie’s walled up inside, leaking out through the cracks over time, the deluge that comes next, that was always going to come.</p><p>What happens next, she thinks, is a sudden and unassailable inevitability, stronger than death, stronger than gravity, stronger than time.</p><p>Jamie kisses Dani.</p><p>She stares at her for a moment before she does, Dani biting her lip again, nervous, worried she’s said too much, that she’s crossed some line, eyes darting across Jamie’s face, and then Jamie’s hands are finding Dani’s cheeks and she’s kissing her, urgent and wanting and so, so certain.</p><p>Dani gasps, and then she’s melting into the kiss, relieved, leaning into Jamie, her hands clutching at Jamie’s shoulders, holding her close, tight. Jamie’s scrambling to sit up straighter, to angle herself toward Dani, to pull her in closer, and Dani lets herself be pulled, sliding a leg over Jamie’s lap, straddling her, arms wrapping around her neck, fingers curling into Jamie’s hair. </p><p>Jamie moans softly at the contact and Dani takes the opportunity to slide her tongue into Jamie’s mouth, Jamie meeting her eagerly, hands sliding down to Dani’s waist, squeezing. Dani arches into her touch and then stills, just for a moment, considering, pulling away from Jamie to catch her breath. Jamie can feel the second Dani makes up her mind, grinning against Jamie’s lips, and then Dani’s grinding down onto Jamie’s lap, tentatively, and they’re groaning into each other’s mouths at the contact, kissing again, Dani grinding down harder, Jamie’s hands tightening around her waist. </p><p>“Jamie…” It’s whimpered between kisses and as much as Jamie loves the way Dani says her name, especially like this, she’s torn, sliding her hands up underneath the hem of Dani’s sweater, palms pressed against Dani’s back, pulling Dani closer to her.</p><p>“Hey, Poppins,” Jamie’s voice is rough when she pulls away, looking up at Dani, thumbs tracing small circles on her back. </p><p>Dani’s fingers tighten, just a little, in Jamie’s hair, and Jamie’s eyes are pulled towards her mouth, Dani’s tongue darting out to lick her lips.</p><p>“Do you…” Dani leans in, nuzzling her nose against Jamie’s, “can we…” Jamie’s fingers slide up and down Dani’s spine, her calluses making Dani shiver. “Bed?” she breathes out.</p><p>Jamie closes her eyes, swallowing, forcing herself to breathe. To take a moment. She opens them again, to Dani’s, wide and hopeful, a soft crease between her brows.</p><p>“You sure?” Jamie wants her to be sure, needs her to be sure. </p><p>Dani’s lips break into a grin, and she leans in again, pressing a kiss to the corner of Jamie’s mouth. “Are you gonna ask me that every time?” Jamie feels herself flush, and Dani grins wider, dragging her lips to the side, lips caressing shell of Jamie’s ear. “I want you, Jamie Taylor,” she whispers, and then she’s pulling back to face Jamie, eyes steady on hers, breathing in shakily, voice small in spite of her bravado. “I want all of you.”</p><p>What’s left of Jamie’s wall shatters.</p><p>Jamie kisses her again, hard, and she’s murmuring “up” against Dani’s lips, Dani quick to obey, scrambling up and backwards off of Jamie’s lap, tugging Jamie with her, refusing to break their kiss. Jamie guides her backwards, hands wrapping around Dani’s waist, thumbs pressing into her hip bones, Dani casting one hand out behind her, feeling for the doorframe even as her other wraps around the back of Jamie’s neck, holding her close.</p><p>Together they stumble into Jamie’s bedroom, Jamie tugging at Dani’s sweater now, pulling it over her head, casting it aside as the back of Dani’s knees hit Jamie’s bed. Jamie slides an arm around behind her, guiding her carefully down onto the sheets, but Dani’s tugging Jamie down with her, still in stubborn refusal to break their kiss, and then it’s broken anyway, the two of them laughing into each other’s mouths as they tumble down, Dani taking the opportunity to roll onto Jamie, straddling her again.</p><p>Jamie raises an eyebrow at her, but Dani’s preoccupied, fumbling with the buttons of Jamie’s shirt, tongue poking out from between her lips in forced concentration. “It’s not fair,” she whines, struggling with a button as Jamie catches her breath, chest rising and falling. Jamie laughs, fingers finding Dani’s, steadying them, undoing the rest of the buttons, and Dani breathes a sigh of relief, only to scowl, petulant, back up at Jamie when she finds Jamie’s t-shirt underneath. </p><p>Jamie opens her mouth to defend herself, but she can barely get out an “it got col–” before Dani’s pulling her up, yanking the hem of her shirt over her head and kissing her again, hands sliding up and across Jamie’s bare stomach, exploring, fingers pressing against taut muscle. Dani’s pulling away to look, tracing the toned lines along Jamie’s skin, and Jamie shivers, leaning in to kiss Dani’s jaw, lips finding their way to her neck, Dani gasping as Jamie nips at her pulse point, fingers finding the clasp of Dani’s bra behind her back. “Okay?” she murmurs into Dani’s shoulder.</p><p>Dani only nods, earnest, following Jamie’s lead as her fingers scramble for Jamie’s bra, too, and then Jamie’s moaning into Dani’s shoulder and Dani’s gasping at the feel of bare chest on bare chest, the two of them pressing into each other, Dani tugging Jamie’s lips back up to hers. They revel in it, the skin-to-skin contact, and then Jamie’s repositioning them, carefully, an arm wrapped around Dani’s waist as she turns, lowering her to the bed.</p><p>Dani lets herself fall back onto the pillows, hair splayed out around her face, looking up at Jamie, taking her in, eyes hungry and lids heavy. Her eyes drift down to Jamie’s breasts, staring, unabashed, and Jamie grins in spite of herself, fingers coming to rest along Dani’s ribcage.</p><p>“Who’s smug now,” Dani breathes out, hands sliding up Jamie’s torso, breath catching, holding, as her hands find Jamie’s breasts, cupping softly. Her thumb grazes a nipple and Jamie gasps, hips jerking into Dani. Dani whimpers at the contact, but steels herself, rolling Jamie’s other nipple between her fingers, and this time when Jamie’s hips jerk, Dani rolls hers up into them, her eyes finding Jamie’s, a quiet moan escaping her mouth. </p><p>Jamie groans at the contact, at the pressure between their hips, and her hands are sliding down Dani’s torso, eyes never leaving Dani’s, coming to rest at the waistline of her jeans, fingers sliding, hovering, at the button there. Dani rolls her hips again, and Jamie nods, fingers trembling as she unbuttons her jeans, sliding them down Dani’s legs, letting them fall to the floor behind them. She presses a kiss to Dani’s knee as she slides back up, and Dani’s already nodding when Jamie looks back up at her, biting her lip. Jamie watches her for a minute, taking her in, and then she’s leaning down to press a kiss to Dani’s hipbone, looping her fingers into the waistband of Dani’s underwear, sliding it down.</p><p>Dani’s tugging Jamie back up before she has the chance to do anything else, tugging her close and kissing her, tongue sliding into her mouth, murmuring “you too” against Jamie’s lips, fingers searching between them for the button of Jamie’s jeans, pushing them down, off, doing the same for her underwear, Jamie kicking them the rest of the way to the floor before pulling away to push herself up.</p><p>Dani and Jamie stare at each other, eyes sweeping over the other’s figure, taking each other in.</p><p>“You’re beautiful.” It spills out of Jamie’s mouth, Jamie’s eyes soft, sparkling, fingers reaching out to brush a stray strand of hair out of Dani’s face. </p><p>Dani beams, reaching up to cup Jamie’s face, and when she pulls her back down, their kiss is soft, gentle, Jamie kissing Dani again and again, each time a little harder than the last, and Dani’s arms are wrapping back around Jamie’s neck, pulling her in closer, closer still, until Jamie’s sucking Dani’s lower lip into her mouth, her knee sliding between Dani’s thighs, and Dani’s gasping. “Jamie,” her voice is low, strained, “please–”</p><p>“Okay,” Jamie pulls away to rest her forehead against Dani’s, fingers already ghosting down Dani’s waist, “okay. I’ve got you, Dani,” and Dani nods, eyes not leaving Jamie’s, fingers twining in her curls absently.</p><p>Jamie’s fingers slip between Dani’s legs and Dani gasps, arching up into Jamie as Jamie drags them through her wetness, grazing her clit before dipping down, pausing, watching Dani’s face carefully as she presses two fingers softly against her. Dani’s eyelids flutter, and she’s nodding again, and when Jamie slides two fingers inside––slowly, taking her time, eyes still not leaving Dani’s––Dani’s breath hitches, and it’s a sound Jamie knows, already, she wants to hear again. </p><p>Jamie moves her fingers then, still slow, sliding out and back in again, pacing herself, Dani moaning lowly as her eyes flutter closed. “Jamie,” she gasps, untangling her arms from Jamie’s neck to slide them around and up her back, fingers pressing into her shoulders, pulling her closer.</p><p>“I’ve got you,” Jamie says again, pressing her face into Dani’s neck, kissing her, sucking at the sensitive skin she finds there. Dani moans again, rolling her hips to match the movements of Jamie’s fingers, and Jamie picks up speed, Dani’s legs tightening around her, desperate for more friction.</p><p>Jamie’s thrusting now, Dani rocking her hips forward to meet her, and Jamie can feel Dani’s pulse under her lips, can feel the tension coiled in Dani’s stomach underneath her, can feel Dani tightening around her fingers. Jamie knows Dani’s close, can feel her beginning to slip as she curls her fingers, but then Dani’s tugging at her shoulders, gasping “here, now,” and Jamie’s finding her lips, kissing her hard and brushing her thumb across her clit, and Dani’s falling apart, shuddering, crying out into Jamie’s mouth. </p><p>Jamie eases her down, helps Dani ride out her orgasm, and when Dani’s opening her eyes again, they’re drifting up to Jamie’s, a smile spreading across Dani's face. Jamie grins back, the two of them staring at each other, and then Dani’s giggling, and then they’re both laughing, Jamie letting herself fall to Dani’s side.</p><p>Dani’s fingers find Jamie’s, tangling together, and as their laughter subsides, she feels Jamie hesitate. “What is it?” she asks, her voice heavy.</p><p>“Did you…” Jamie’s eyes narrow, and she glances over at Dani, corner of her mouth quirking up. “Did you really accuse me of being smug? In my own flat?”</p><p>Dani glances at her sideways, and Jamie watches the grin spreading over Dani’s face. “Maybe,” she offers mischievously, pulling her hand away from Jamie’s. “And, I mean, well–– It's like you said, there are consequences for being smug,” she's serious now, turning onto her side to look at Jamie.</p><p>“Are there now?” Jamie raises her eyebrows, pursing her lips. “And what would those be?”</p><p>Dani just bites her lip, and, grinning wider, rolls on top of Jamie, straddling her. </p><p>Jamie’s hands settle on Dani’s waist. “I don’t think these consequences are quite the deterrent you think, Poppins.”</p><p>Dani only raises her eyebrows back at her, leaning down to press her lips to Jamie’s chest. “Who said smug was a bad thing?” She kisses her again, lower this time, glancing up at Jamie as she does. “Maybe I like smug.” She’s kissing Jamie’s stomach now, tongue gliding along the toned muscle there.</p><p>“Yeah, you’re bloody good at it,” Jamie tries, but her voice wavers, catching in her throat, as Dani’s hands slide down to her thighs, easing them apart. “You don’t have to––”</p><p>Dani looks up at her, brow furrowed. “I want to,” she says simply, and Jamie doesn’t even have time to respond before Dani’s ducking her head back down, tongue slipping between Jamie’s folds, dragging up, and Jamie’s crying out, hands grasping for the sheets crumpled around her. Dani pauses at that, eyes sliding up to Jamie’s from where she’s situated between her legs, and then Dani’s tongue is on her again, and Jamie’s gasping, her head tipping back against the pillow.</p><p>When Jamie comes, she’s grabbing for Dani’s free hand with hers, clutching tightly, Dani angling the fingers of her other hand with care as she thrusts into Jamie, tongue circling her clit. Jamie can feel the way Dani beams, proud, against her as she comes, tongue slowing, softening, before she pulls away, then pauses, leaning back in to press one more kiss between Jamie’s legs.</p><p>“Blimey,” Jamie breathes out once Dani’s crawled back up, collapsing onto her chest, Jamie running a hand through Dani’s hair.</p><p>Dani just giggles in response, nuzzling into Jamie’s touch.</p><p>They lie there like that, breathing each other in, and just as Jamie thinks Dani’s nodded off, Dani’s propping herself up on her elbow, looking at Jamie. “Can I make a confession?”</p><p>Jamie raises her eyebrows. </p><p>“I knew.” Dani leans in closer, voice flat, matter-of-fact. “I knew it was a lesbian bar the whole time. I just…” she purses her lips, thoughtful. “I thought it would be… Easier? That way. For you to tell me, for me not to leave after you did, for you to figure… Figure it out. Please say something,” she widens her eyes for emphasis, leaning in closer still.</p><p>Jamie lets her sweat it out for a minute, watching her carefully, eyebrows still raised. </p><p>“You’re telling me,” Jamie finally says, slowly, “you’d rather go to a lesbian pub, pretend you don’t know it’s a lesbian pub, get told it’s a lesbian pub and show that yes, you are, in fact, a lesbian and thereby in the right place by not leaving said pub upon getting told it’s a lesbian pub than just… Going to a lesbian pub, where it’s… Generally assumed upon entry, and leaving it at that?”</p><p>Dani nods, earnest.</p><p>“Mm,” Jamie purses her lips, thoughtful.</p><p>Dani watches.</p><p>“Can I make a confession, then?” </p><p>Dani blinks. “Su–– Sure?”</p><p>“I knew you knew.” Dani’s face pales, then flushes, and Jamie can only laugh, arms wrapping around Dani and tugging her in closer. “I told you before, you’re not subtle, Poppins.”</p><p>Dani pouts at her, but then Jamie’s kissing her, and Dani’s sighing, content. </p><p>As they fall asleep, limbs tangled together, Dani’s arm wrapped, snug, around Jamie, she can’t help but think the same thing she’d thought all those nights ago, the first time she’d walked by the Manor: that she can’t wait to do this again another night, another time.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you, forever and always, to yearinla for the constant moral support, positive affirmations, and reading each chapter over for me. Thank you most of all for instigating my writing this at all, and for instigating what's to come. (And still for Vi. Always for Vi.)</p><p>Thank you to you all, too, for sticking with me and the Manor, for reading, and for all of your lovely, kind comments. I appreciate you all so much, and am so grateful!</p><p>As always, you're welcome to find me over on tumblr at viola-lloyds.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dani’s behind the bar when Hannah and Owen come in, Hannah smiling back over her shoulder at Owen as he holds open the door, ushering her into the Manor with a flourish.</p><p>“Hey you two,” Dani sinks down against the bar, grinning, arms spread across its shiny surface.</p><p>Owen raises his eyebrows at her, tugging the door shut behind him, Hannah crossing over to the bar to light on the edge of a stool, eyes twinkling. “She’s letting you behind the bar now?” Hannah asks, tilting her head at Dani, curious.</p><p>Dani’s smile turns sheepish. “Well… I’m not allowed to make any drinks,” she says, looking up at them through her lashes, "but..."</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Surprise!</p><p>I promise, I'd really meant to be done with this little corner of the universe, but it turns out it wasn't done with me quite yet. (That and I got roped into writing an epilogue––you all know who you are.)</p><p>This is really the end now, though, and as is befitting of any good epilogue, I went full FWP on this one: Fluff Without Plot.</p><p>As always, you can find me on tumblr at viola-lloyds. Thank you all, again, for everything. I've loved having you on this ride.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are you ever gonna let me make drinks?” Dani’s eyes are wide, innocent, looking down at Jamie where she rests on Dani’s shoulder, morning sun streaming through the window, Jamie’s fingers tracing idle circles along Dani’s chest.</p><p>“That depends,” Jamie purses her lips, looking up at her, meeting her eyes. “Are you ever going to learn to make drinks?”</p><p>Dani’s nose crinkles. “I dunno,” she reaches down, pushing a sweaty curl off of Jamie’s forehead. “Are you ever gonna teach me?”</p><p>Jamie laughs. “Oh, I bet you’d like that, eh?” She props herself up on her elbow. You and me, behind the bar… Me, wrappin’ an arm around your waist, reaching around to show you which glass to use… Guiding your hand along with mine, the two of us gripping the shaker together…”</p><p>“Yeah...” Dani’s eyes are drifting down to her lips, “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”</p><p>“Dani…” Jamie’s only meant to tease, but she can see Dani’s mind working, playing the scenario out to its logical conclusion.</p><p>“Mm?” Dani’s fingers are light, dusting their way down Jamie’s sternum.</p><p>“You know we’re not having sex anywhere near the bar, yeah?”</p><p>“Mm,” Dani’s fingers are detouring, diverting from their course to trace Jamie’s hip bones, sliding back and forth along the ridges.</p><p>“Dani, <em> no</em>––”</p><p>“No?” Dani’s fingers pull away, abrupt. </p><p>“Wait, no, not no to that––” Jamie knows before she’s opening her mouth again it’s a lost cause, Dani’s fingers finding her skin again.</p><p>“Mm,” and it’s maddening, Jamie thinks, in the best way, Dani’s fingers dipping lower. Dani’s maddening, but damn, if she doesn’t... </p><p>“Dani…” It comes out in a whine, and Dani grins.</p><p>“Yeah, okay,” Dani finally concedes, rolling over on top of Jamie, her hair falling in a curtain around them. “No sex, if that’s what you want.”</p><p>“No sex... <em> Near the bar</em>. Dani, please…” Jamie’s hips jerk up, searching out Dani’s fingers.</p><p>Dani presses two fingers into Jamie, grinning wider at the shaky intake of breath she gets in response, leaning down to press her lips to Jamie’s neck. </p><p>Jamie turns her head to make more room for Dani’s mouth, eyes sliding over to her windowsill as she does, to the small pot there.</p><p>Dani follows her gaze after a moment, kisses slowing, grin softening as she pulls away to readjust, to lean forward, bumping her nose gently against Jamie’s. “I love you too, you know,” she whispers against Jamie’s lips, and then Dani’s kissing her and moving her fingers and Jamie’s eyes are fluttering closed.</p>
<hr/><p>Dani’s behind the bar when Hannah and Owen come in, Hannah smiling back over her shoulder at Owen as he holds open the door, ushering her into the Manor with a flourish.</p><p>“Hey you two,” Dani sinks down against the bar, grinning, arms spread across its shiny surface.</p><p>Owen raises his eyebrows at her, tugging the door shut behind him, Hannah crossing over to the bar to light on the edge of a stool, eyes twinkling. “She’s letting you behind the bar now?” Hannah asks, tilting her head at Dani, curious.</p><p>Dani’s smile turns sheepish, biting her lip as she sinks lower against the bar, pressing her cheek to the cool wood. “Well… I’m not allowed to make any drinks,” she says, looking up at them through her lashes, “but I’ve been given strict instructions to keep watch.” She stands up straight, jutting her jaw forward with a playful scowl. “‘Tell whoever comes in I’ll be right back, proper quick. And Dani? <em> Don’t </em> touch. Anything, you’ll just <em> desecrate</em>––’”</p><p>“I’m pretty sure I didn’t say ‘desecrate.’”</p><p>Dani’s head snaps over to the back of the Manor, where Jamie’s slipping through the door to the stairs leading up to her flat, grinning.</p><p>Dani’s face immediately softens, smiling widely, her eyes bright.</p><p>“How does her face not hurt, smiling like that?” Owen murmurs into Hannah’s ear, dropping down onto the empty stool beside her.</p><p>“Oh, hush,” Hannah murmurs back, her hand sliding over to rest on Owen’s knee, squeezing softly.</p><p>He smiles over at her, and it’s small, private. “You have to admit,” Owen lowers his voice, but it’s light, teasing. “It’s disgusting how happy they are.”</p><p>“It’s disgusting how happy <em> you </em> are, mate.” Jamie plops onto the stool on Owen’s other side, greeting him with a playful jab to the ribs. “Good to have you back, though. How was Paris?” she grins over at Hannah, Jamie's fingers finding Dani’s across the bar, tangling together. </p><p>“Yeah, Mrs. Grose,” Owen’s hand finds Hannah’s. “How was Paris?”</p><p>Hannah stares at him for a minute, thoughtful, and Jamie can see the smile trying not to break through from what feels like a mile away. “It was lovely,” Hannah turns to Jamie, to Dani, who’s listening with wide-eyed attention. “We ate croissants and drank good wine.” She shrugs a coy shoulder at them.</p><p>“Aw, c’mon, Hannah” Dani’s craning forward across the bar, eager. “That’s it?”</p><p>Hannah only smiles evenly back, and Owen laughs, winking over at Dani. “What about you?” he asks. “How have you two been, holding down the fort over here?”</p><p>Dani opens her mouth, updates about the Wingraves and the Manor ready to spill out: Flora’s art projects; Miles’ budding interest in flowers (she chuckles to herself at that one, a brazen attempt to contend with Owen), supported with begrudging fondness by Jamie; the new flowers Jamie’s been growing out back, the one resting on her windowsill upstairs (“it’s called a moonflower,” Jamie had whispered to her the night before, voice rough, before pulling Dani into her bed).</p><p>Jamie beats her to it, though. “Let’s have a drink first, yeah?” She turns to Dani, and there’s a smirk on her face now, brow raised, challenging, impish. </p><p>Dani stares at her for a minute, placid, waiting for Jamie to get up, to come around the bar, to light a hand on her lower back, reach around her for a bottle of wine.</p><p>The penny finally drops.</p><p>“Wait, me?” Dani’s face drops all pretense, mouth falling open, disbelieving. “You–– You want me to… You’re asking…” She swallows. “...Me?”</p><p>The corner of Jamie’s smirk twitches. “Unless you think you’re not up for it, Poppins. I can always…” She makes to get up, but Dani squeezes her fingers tightly, stopping her, face turning resolute.</p><p>“No... No, I’ve got this.” Dani puffs her chest out, then pauses, deflating a little bit, glancing sideways at Owen and Hannah, who only smile encouragingly, Owen flashing her a thumbs up.</p><p>Dani nods to herself, surer now, dropping Jamie’s hand to turn to Hannah, voice serious. “What can I get for you, Mrs. Grose?”</p><p>Hannah presses her fingers to her lips in mock thought. “I’ll have a glass of your house red,” she declares, matching Dani’s solemnity with her own.</p><p>Dani nods, ducking down below the bar to grab a bottle, and she can feel Jamie’s eyes on her, trailing down her back as she does, dragging their way along Dani’s body as she straightens back up.</p><p>Dani uncorks the bottle, filling Hannah’s glass carefully, biting her tongue in concentration, curling the bottle away as soon as Hannah’s glass is exactly a third full. “Sorry,” her feigned whisper is apologetic as she slides the glass across the bar to Hannah, “I’d give you a heavier pour, but, uh…” She jerks her head towards Jamie. “The boss is watching, so…”</p><p>Hannah laughs, nodding, and feigns a whisper back. “Wouldn’t want you to get in trouble with the boss.” Her voice returns to its normal volume. “Thank you, Dani. Excellent service, really.”</p><p>It takes every bit of discipline Dani has not to look at Jamie right then, to turn to Owen instead. “And you, sir?”</p><p>“You know, I’m not sure,” Owen’s mustache twitches. “What would you recommend?”</p><p>Dani steels herself. “Well,” she leans forward against the bar, conversational, pensive, adopting a pose she’s seen Jamie take time and time again. “A question I’ve always found… Productive”––and again, it takes all her focus not to glance sideways at Jamie––“is this: what’s your favorite ale?” Dani hears a muffled snort, Jamie mumbling a “productive, eh?” into her hand, and ignores her still.</p><p>“My favorite ale…” Owen casts around, looking to Jamie, who’s preparing herself for what’s coming, corner of her mouth quirking up in spite of herself, then to Hannah, and back at Dani again. “I’d have to say it’s a Hannah Gose,” he says finally, proudly, Jamie groaning before the words have even finished leaving his mouth.</p><p>“Oh,” Hannah swats at him half-heartedly, but her eyes are alight, smiling.</p><p>Dani only beams over at him, ducking down again to tug open the fridge. “I have to say, Owen, it really is your lucky day.” She can feel Jamie’s eyes on her again, heavier now, and she pops back up, sliding a can and a chilled glass across the bar, stopping just shy of Owen, leaving them situated, equidistant, between him and Hannah. “Hannah,” Dani nods at Hannah, corners of her eyes crinkling, “Gose.” She nods at the can. “I’d offer to pour it for you, but…” Dani lowers her voice again, “I don’t want to intrude.”</p><p>Owen only laughs, and Hannah swats at him again as he reaches for the glass, pushing his hand away. She reaches over to the can herself, cracking it open, and pours it, gingerly, into the glass. “There,” Hannah whispers, pushing it towards Owen. “There’s your gose.”</p><p>Dani smiles at the two of them, turning away, finally, to Jamie.</p><p>Jamie’s leaning forward against the bar, eyes bright, locked on Dani, still smirking, her fingers playing with a stray coaster, twirling it, effortlessly, between them. She takes Dani’s breath away, even now, after so many afternoons at the Manor, so many evenings, so many nights spent together. She feels herself start to flush.</p><p>“And you,” Dani breathes out, any semblance of professionalism, however light-hearted, lost. “What can I do for you?”</p><p>Jamie’s smirk only crooks higher as she leans in, close. “You know what I like,” her voice is low, teasing, the words theirs now, their effect as arresting, always, as it had been the first time Jamie had said them.</p><p>Dani feels her eyelids flutter, gaze heavy, pulled to Jamie’s lips, to the way her tongue slips out, wetting them, to the way they’re parted, waiting. </p><p>It’s true: Dani does know what Jamie likes. She knows that Jamie likes the nights the Manor is busiest the most, grinning as she doles out drink after drink, offering blunt advice as a(n often unasked for) chaser, letting Rebecca and Viola and whoever else linger long after last call. She knows that Jamie likes to wake up early on Thursdays––even on the Thursdays Dani doesn’t have to slip out, to make her way back to the Wingraves’ before breakfast, much to Dani’s chagrin––and make her way down to the greenhouse, to see the morning light shine through its panes and onto the petals and shoots nestled, warm, inside. She knows that Jamie likes the way Dani moans her name, face pressed, desperate, into Jamie’s neck, fingers clinging to Jamie’s shoulders, free hand slipping down between Jamie’s legs then too, pulling them closer together still. </p><p>Dani knows what Jamie likes.</p><p>So Dani leans in, leans in across the bar, and in front of Hannah and Owen and all the plants, kisses her. It’s soft, Dani’s lips barely grazing Jamie’s, mindful of Hannah and Owen just next to them, of their warm smiles. Jamie smiles too, into the kiss, hand sliding across the bar to wrap around Dani’s arm, to squeeze gently, pulling her closer, kissing her two, three more times, when––</p><p>“Well this has to be a health code violation.” It’s Viola, swinging open the door, sauntering into the Manor. Rebecca’s not far behind, covering up a laugh.</p><p>“Oy, Vi,” Jamie groans, pulling away, swiveling to look at Viola. “Don’t make me kick you out of my pub before you’ve even had a drink.”</p><p>Viola rolls her eyes, tossing her bag onto the bar next to a lone sunflower, propped up in an empty wine bottle. “You wouldn’t. Last time I checked, this is a private party and,” she glances at Dani, corner of her mouth curling up, “I was invited.”</p><p>Jamie scowls at Viola, but they both know it’s innocuous, Viola turning to Dani as Dani pulls a bottle out of the fridge, passing it over to Jamie with a sheepish smile. </p><p>“She’s actually letting you back there, huh?” Viola arches an eyebrow at Dani, laughter echoed in the lines around her mouth.</p><p>“Why does everyone seem so surprised?” Dani’s hands find her hips, crease forming between her brows. </p><p>“Because you can’t make a drink to save your life, love,” it’s murmured, and Dani’s too distracted by it––by that hand on her lower back, light, warm as she leans into it, Jamie slipping behind the bar with her––to catch Hannah and Owen’s shared glance, the sideways look Viola and Rebecca give each other. </p><p>Dani huffs, but Jamie ignores her, grabbing two cocktail glasses from the drying rack. “Besides,” she continues, arching up onto her tiptoes to grab a bottle of gin, “you’re too short to reach the top shelf.”</p><p>“We’re the same height!” Dani protests.</p><p>Jamie ignores her, waving a hand at Viola as she screws the cap off of the gin. “And the Lady of the Manor”––Viola rolls her eyes, but preens at the nickname just the same––”deserves nothing less.”</p><p>Dani grumbles, leaning back to slouch against the counter behind her, fingers reaching out to tug at Jamie’s shirt, sighing softly as they tangle in the hem.</p><p> Jamie glances back at her over her shoulder as she finishes Viola and Rebecca’s drinks, passing their glasses over and settling back next to Dani along the counter, one hand wrapped around her beer, the other finding Dani’s and wrapping around it, too. She feels Dani’s contented sigh, lets Dani lean into her, Dani’s head coming to rest on her shoulder.</p><p>It’s not something she’d do normally, not at the Manor, not when she’s behind the bar. Jamie takes her business seriously, always has, treats her role at the pub with reverence. Even if everyone knows, she admits to herself, even if she and Dani sneak quick kisses when they think no one’s looking, or tangle their fingers together across the bar, Dani nodding along to one of Viola’s stories, indulging, peeking at Jamie out of the corner of her eye. </p><p>But now? </p><p>Viola’s right, Jamie figures, if begrudgingly. It’s a private party. She’s not on duty.</p><p>She’s with family.</p><p>Jamie grins then, ducking her head to kiss the top of Dani’s. Dani hums, and Jamie pulls away after a moment to look back up at everyone, raising the bottle in her hand. “Thanks, uh, for coming, everyone,” she glances back down at Dani, “to celebrate one of my favorite people––”</p><p>“One of?” Hannah interrupts, cocking her head at Jamie. “You mean to tell me Jamie Taylor... Likes people? As in... More than one?”</p><p>“Unheard of,” Owen scoffs.</p><p>Jamie feels her face flush. Dani giggles.</p><p>There’s a shrug from Viola. “She’s always liked me.”</p><p>Jamie shoots her a look. “As I was <em> saying</em>,” she presses, “we’re here to celebrate one of my favorite people. On her birthday, no less.”</p><p>Dani nuzzles into her shoulder.</p><p>“So if you’ll join me, I’d like to raise a class to Dani Clayton.” Jamie turns to Dani, arm sliding around her waist. “Happy birthday, Poppins,” she murmurs, then, turning back: “To Dani!”</p><p>And in front of them, their family raises their glasses.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Language from the original series belongs to the lovely folks who wrote it.</p><p>Title is from (surprise!) Taylor Swift's "Delicate." (Find her recording from the Tracking Room Nashville––you won't regret it!)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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